Nude no more?

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Dear Annie: I have been married to my wonderful wife for 25 years. When we were dating, all my friends were jealous because she was so movie-star beautiful. What they didn’t know was how incredible her figure was. We didn’t go swimming much, and she always dressed conservatively. I kidded her that I was the only one that knew what a grand figure she had. We had been married for a couple of years when a friend of hers told her about a nude beach not far away in Miami. To my surprise, she wanted to go, and she loved it, especially the attention she received. She had been so shy and conservative in her dressing that I don’t think she realized just how attractive she was in all ways.

That was about 25 years ago. Soon after the nude beach, we moved to a home with a pool and she insisted we surround the pool with a six-foot fence. She stayed nude at our pool regardless of who visited except if it were our parents or if anyone brought their children. Then this carried over to indoors. She just stopped wearing clothes unless she was going out. Our social friends sort of got used to it, as did the mailman, FedEx guy and even our favorite pizza delivery folks. She would just throw open the front door and welcome them.

Never have I thought she has been unfaithful; she just enjoys the freedom of nudity. We went to a few nudist clubs around Florida before we started having our children.

Annie, she is now in her mid-40s and while I still think she is lovely, and I love her more than ever, her figure has not aged well. She hasn’t changed her lifestyle much (she dresses when our kids have friends over), and I want to suggest that not everyone enjoys seeing her naked at her age. I just don’t have the nerve to tell her. Any suggestions? — Seen It All

Dear Seen It All: Your wife was never doing this for anyone’s enjoyment but her own. And if you didn’t take issue with the nudity when she was 20, then I think it’s shallow of you to take issue with it now. Still, I think your wife needs to be more conscientious and careful. Answering the door in the buff could constitute indecent exposure; at the very least, it could make someone uncomfortable, violating their boundaries. Encourage her instead to get back into visiting nudist clubs and retreats, where she can be with consenting adults who share the same interest.

Dear Annie: Recently, you printed a letter that suggested people start “Round Robin” letter-writing circles while we’re all cooped up at home. I agree that letter writing can be a wonderful hobby. When my wife was in fifth grade, the class did a “pen pal” program where everybody wrote a letter to a person in a foreign country. She and her pen pal in Australia wrote back and forth, with each letter taking about a month to arrive, for the whole year. After that, my wife would send a Christmas card and a birthday card every year to her former pen pal. Sometimes they would share life updates.

Three years ago, we planned a trip to Australia and she told her pen pal about it. She said to come visit them. We stayed with them for a week, including a trip to the Outback. Then we took a train to Melbourne, where her daughter lived and stayed with them for several days. Then we went back to Sydney and flew home — one of our best vacations ever! — Phil

Dear Phil: What an amazing thing. Strangers really are just friends waiting to happen.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.