I had just turned 18 and had finished high school via home schooling by my parents. They both worked as missionaries throughout my entire life, moving every five or six years. My mother taught me my school lessons the entire time as we weren't often near an English speaking school.
Now it was my time to begin college but my parents were to continue their foreign work, so I had to part from their company as well as their oversight. Problem was, I had been brought up in a mostly sheltered environment and they weren't sure I was ready for the "real world" of life in the States. So, what was to become of me?
Finally my father got into contact with his mother, despite them not being terribly close these past eighteen years. I was not privy to their conversations of my going to live with my grandmother, so I wasn't aware of my parents hesitancy of turning me loose to my grandmother. As I had only met her two or three times my entire life, I was unaware of why they were hesitant. But as I had no other relatives, it was either her or I would continue to live with them in third world countries, forgoing further education.
At last the decision was reached, agreements made and I was told to pack all of my belongings to take with me. As we had lived extremely basic, all I basically had were my clothes and a few books. My mother escorted me to the bus station and I could tell she was uneasy about the arrangement but didn't know why.
While we waited on the bus, my mother began to tell me some about why they had such a hard time with this decision.
"John", mother began, "your grandmother is a bit of loose cannon when compared to your father and I. While we lived to serve, she took a much different path in life. Oh, there's nothing evil or mean about her. It's just that she sees things much, much different than your father and I. While your scholarship covers your schooling costs, we cannot afford to house you on what your father gets paid. Your grandmother has graciously allowed you to stay with her while you're in school. But if you're ever to decide to leave, for any reason, then just let us know. We'll figure something out eventually."
Mother had a look on her face while telling me all this, a look I had never seen before. It was as if she wanted to tell me more but didn't know how or (probably) was told by my father to not tell me any more. But I trusted her and my father, so I got on the bus when it was called. We waved to each other as it drove, with me wondering how long it would be before I could see them again. I knew we would write but they were headed somewhere to interior Africa, where mail service was going to be iffy, if not rare.
I slept most of the way on my trip, only waking when the bus got close to my destination in South Florida. I knew grandmother lived around the Palm Beach area, but that was about it. I looked forward to being in Florida as well as being able to spend some time on the beach for the first time in my life.
Once the bus arrived at the station, I gathered my gear and headed inside the terminal. I didn't have a picture of my grandmother, so I wasn't quite sure how we would recognize each other. Thankfully, that wasn't an issue as she recognized me.
"John?" a woman asked. "Are you my grandson John?"
I turned to look and almost dropped my things. In front of me stood a remarkably good looking woman, barely older looking than my own mother. She was a tall woman, about five foot ten, with blondish hair and looking extremely fit and slender.
"Yes, I am John. Are you my grandmother?" I asked this good looking woman.
She laughed and came forward and hugged me. Due to her height, we were virtually eye to eye. She hugged me tightly, pressing her body right up against mine. I became acutely aware that I had never been hugged so tightly by a woman in all my life, much less one so good looking. I became aware of a stirring in my groin, something I was becoming more aware of as I got closer to eighteen. I hugged her back politely, unsure of what the proper thing to do would be with my penis enlarging as it was.
Grandmother let loose of me but held my arms in her hands as she looked me up and down. While I had filled out due to hard physical work while living in underdeveloped countries, I was not quite so advanced on my social skills.
Finally she loose of my arms and smiled, putting me greatly at ease. How could I be uncomfortable with such a good looking woman smiling at me? Turns out, I couldn't and immediately relaxed.
"Let's get you stuff and be on our way, shall we?" she said. So we grabbed all my bags and off we went to her car. She walked me out to the parking lot, just chit chatting about my trip and so forth, not really saying anything important. When she stopped at her car, I noticed it seemed to be very nice car, based on what little I knew about cars. We quickly piled everything into the trunk and we both got inside. She quickly got us out and onto the road.
"I'm sure we both have a million questions about each other" she said. "How about I go first and tell you about me and then you can ask what you want then?" I just nodded in reply, anxious to hear what she had to say.
She began her story: "I had your father when I was only eighteen. I married an older man whom was quite successful in business but had never had time for a wife and family prior to me. We were quite happy until he died a few years ago. I'm afraid your father and he didn't see eye to eye on his wealth nor how he acquired it. I guess that's what drove him to missionary work. We remained in touch all during your childhood but of course with the distances involved, I never got to see you but rarely. I look forward to making up for lost time now that you're staying with me."
I remained silent, doing the math in my head. She had my father when she was eighteen, my dad had me when he was twenty. Wow! Grandmother wasn't even forty! No wonder she looked like my mother's older sister instead of her mother-in-law!
In no time at all we had arrived in a well to do neighborhood by anyone's standards. Grandmother pulled into the garage and let the garage door down. We gathered up my bags and shuffled into her house.
"Follow me with your stuff, I'll show you which bedroom is yours. I'll put you right next to mine so we can peek around the door should you need anything." Again, all I could do was nod as I wasn't sure what to say or how to act in such nice surroundings. I decided I was going to enjoy such luxury after living in primitive conditions all my life.
My bedroom was very spacious, with a nice bed and furniture. Grandmother helped me unpack, sort my clothing and get squared away. Once all that was done, she again took charge, sensing I was out of my element and thus out of sorts.
Taking my arm, she said, "How about I give you a tour of the house, let you get a feel of it?"
Without waiting for a reply, she walked me over to the bathroom that connected to my bedroom. It was larger than some of the homes I had lived in as a kid.
"This is obviously the bathroom. My bedroom is on the other side, through the other door there. I wanted you here in case you needed anything and to make you as comfortable as possible. We'll just share the bathroom as we need to unless you want to do differently?" she said.
She then walked me through the rest of the house, something that took close to an hour as she explained the things she thought I needed to know. Finally, we arrived at the den. She walked me through the sliding glass door to the backyard, where she proudly showed me her swimming pool. My eyes were as round as silver dollars at this feeling of excitement that grew within me. I had always wondered what it would be like to live like this and now I would get to know!
