Susan's Renaissance

I said, "Get rid of the huge bandage and replace it with two small ones. I get use of my arm now though my fingers have five weeks left in splints."

I tried lifting my arm. It was stiff as heck and felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.

It hurt to move and I said, "Ouch. Damn, that hurts and damn, I am stiff."

He nodded then went to my back. He said, "They are healing nicely. Your surgeon is an artist. He did very little cutting to get the bullets out. Still, you will have some scarring, especially at the entry points. His scalpel cuts are very neat and sharp. I think they will fade nicely."

He sat in front of me and laughed then said, "Sorry. My first bullet wounds. I came to the suburbs for a reason."

I nodded and quipped, "SO DID I!"

He laughed, asked more general health questions then gave me a card and said to put his number into my phone. My phone. Damn, that was still weird to hear. I had a working cell phone and it was the latest one.

He helped me put my shirt back on. The girls were still going to hang free because there was no way I was going to manage the bra clasp any time soon. Just watching the lake was my new favorite and very relaxing pastime. I just sat and passed the day with my phone on the deck watching the world and some decent-looking guys pass by. I saw more meh looking men than good looking but one guy had a really nice package along with nice arms! Yep! I was into the nudist thing and I liked it.

They mentioned this pot-luck get-together they did every other week on Thursdays but everyone had this giant smirk. I knew I was on the receiving end of the joke but had to trust they weren't going to actually hurt me.

When it was time, Kelsey happily wheeled me around the deck and onto the road to come to the neighborhood park from the roadside, talking to me about her day and how it was yet another good one. Good days just seemed to happen. I was getting used to it and something else began to creep in: Contentment. It was an alien feeling that I had never felt before. Worry and weariness had washed away and I felt younger, more alive... better.

They wheeled me over to this beach and park area and there were two men unloading DJ equipment. Yeah, I made an ass of myself. Andrew interrupted them, "Carlos... Hans... meet my other mom, my mother-in-law, Susan."

Carlos turned and there it was, his porn size giant penis.

I was shocked and babbled like an idiot, "Holy shit! You have three legs!"

Carlos laughed, helicoptered this massively huge thing then laughed, "I know right!"

I kept putting my foot in my mouth and babbled, "Damn, look at that thing!"

Carlos smiled and stuck out his hand to me, "I'm Carlos and this is my husband Hans."

I just plowed on far too loud, "You're Gay!?... of course. It doesn't happen much in Bluefield... well visibly. People would be awful..." I paused, then kept going, "Well, I'm glad to be where people can just leave people alone to live their lives in happiness... SHIT! I have a big mouth."

Carlos smiled and said, "Thank you for the kind words."

I managed to shut my stupid mouth for a second and think, "Apologize Susan. He is smiling and not offended much. Apologize" I sighed, "I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I need to adapt, not you. I should not have said anything about you being gay. Ugh. I feel awful."

Carlos bent down and hugged me, he had this happy accepting attitude underneath his flamboyance and said, "Apology accepted. I am good until someone is evil about it. You were surprised by several things... and most definitely not evil about it. I can always use more friends."

I smiled and said, "I can use any friends. I would love to be your friend."

Carlos came in for another hug, this one was much tighter, and he said, "WELCOME FRIEND!"

I smiled, leaned back, and realized that I had a new friend. Carlos was like a walking party of happiness wherever he walked.

Dinner was called and everyone lined up. Andrew fetched my plate from first in line then went back to the end of the line to get his own. Damn, I am starting to love him like a mom would. He was so sweet and good to everyone around him. I was surprised when Carlos plopped his plate down next to mine and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

I shook my head and said, "You are welcome to sit next to me."

Carlos smiled and said, "Hans is with a bunch of the men talking about the Giants. I swear I am married to the only German guy on the planet who prefers the NFL to soccer."

I asked, "Not into football?"

Carlos shook his head and said, "Nope. I'm into bird watching, photography, writing, and painting."

Leah sat down on the other side of me and rolled her eyes, "Hubby is over with the other men talking about the Giants."

Carlos sighed and rolled his eyes.

Leah tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at my daughter who was sitting at a nearby table sitting hip to hip with Andrew. They talked quietly to each other, smiled, and laughed together a lot. They looked so sweet and comfortable with each other. She said something, he laughed, she stroked his cheek then he kissed her. He pulled away a bit to start eating again then she pulled his face toward her and kissed him back which was a lot more than a quick peck. A LOT more. She sure liked French kissing and did not care who saw it.

I called over to Kelsey, "Hey. Get a room!"

Kelsey stuck her tongue out at me then went for Andrews's tonsils again. It was the most wonderfully disgusting thing I could imagine. My daughter was in love, damn, she was almost licking the inside of his mouth. Ugh! I forced my eyes away.

Leah saw their exchanges and said, "Thank you for bringing Kelsey into Andrew's life. He never stops smiling now."

I sat and watched them. Yeah, gross. I know. Yet it brought joy to my heart to see my daughter thriving, loving her life and her man.

After dinner, I was sitting when Carlos was standing near me and said, "Look! A Magnolia Warbler!"

Everyone ignored the bird comment except me and I asked, "Where!?"

Carlos said, "There!"

I saw a bird that was mostly yellow and asked, "Is it rare?"

Carlos said, "No, but certainly uncommon. I photograph birds!"

I said, "Wow. Pretty. I sure would love to see more birds like that."

Five minutes later, Carlos was pushing me along the lakefront pointing out birds. We stopped by his place and he brought his camera out to show me. It sure was a nice camera. It said 'Nikon' on it and it was large like one I had seen at a park once. Some guy with a fancy car was photographing his family. I remember the car was a nice one and figured people with money used ones like that.

He pushed me onto this trail then stopped and said, "Catbird."

I asked, "Where!?"

He pointed and I saw a gray bird and asked, "Is it rare?"

He said no then handed me his camera and said, "Take the picture!"

He showed me how to do it and... I was hooked! It was especially hard with just my thumb and pointer finger free on one hand. I spent the next hour taking bird pictures. It was awkward holding up with two fingers on my left hand while I fumbled and clicked the pictures with my right hand but I managed a dozen.

We came back and Carlos resumed DJing. As the party wound down, I sat with him and asked bird questions. We both had the time of our lives. As we were about to leave, Carlos asked, "Wanna go birding at Liberty Loop Saturday?"

I asked, "What is Liberty Loop?"

He said, "A hiking trail with birds!"

My smile said it all. Carlos exclaimed, "Finally! A bird buddy!"

A connection was made. People always saw Carlos as the party guy. That is Carlos, but only part of him. Carlos is also an avid bird watcher and many other things. The party part showed the most, but I saw another side of him; the side of a true friend.

Friday, August 3, 2023

Leah came by and mentioned that she and her husband were going out to a place called Raguso's Pub. She was going to invite Andrew and Kelsey along and it would be great if I wanted to tag along. I was kind of going stir crazy not having left the house in a week. Don't get me wrong, I love this place, but I wanted to start seeing more of the area I was now living in.

I was getting better at limping around, especially with the help of my new family. Leah took me out and I took some of my money from the safe and bought myself my first new piece of clothing in years; a dress. The beauty of a sleeveless dress goes beyond looking nice. There are no legs on a dress for me to get my cast through. The dress was red and quite a bit sexy. I have great boobs and yeah, I don't mind showing them off. Leah helped me get dressed and damn! I think I looked pretty damn great!

I know I look great except for one cast and three splints, but Leah even helped me with a bit of makeup. New Susan in her new life!

We got there and Kelsey asked Andrew when he would dance with her. As usual for most guys, he was reluctant, but he loved her and went to the dance floor. I watched my daughter dance with Andrew. It was bliss watching because Kelsey was head over heels in love with him. She was loving her new life as I was loving mine. She was just swaying with her wrists around his neck, looking up adoringly. She would periodically come in for a sweet kiss and an 'I love you'. Then she would back away a bit with her wrists still around his neck leaning back with a mile-wide glowing smile as she swayed back and forth having the time of her life.

Life had turned around wonderfully.

They asked how I was adjusting to living in a nudist resort. I related the story to David and Andrew that I had told Leah about Earl boning me on the pool table in front of everyone at Vinny's Bar and how he had used me as a nude servant. I was almost detached from it in some ways. New Susan and new life! It dawned on me I was really starting to like naturism and was becoming comfortable.

The one part that was hard to detach from was that I wanted what both couples had. I wanted to be head over heels like Andrew and Kelsey and eventually head over heels like Leah and David. Leah and David were great people and a great couple to emulate. Decades of marriage and still head over heels in love.

Later, Leah danced with David and she had no modesty and no shame. She moved his hands from her lower back right onto her ass and kissed him in a 'Get a room!' manner.

Yeah, I WANT THAT!

Leah and David came back to the table after her grinding him and giving him wood in front of the whole world. She did not give a shit. I swear that if it would not have gotten them arrested, she would have loved to fuck him right on the dance floor.

When they came back I quipped, "Damn, I'm the only one not getting laid tonight."

Leah apologized, "I'm sorry. I should have been..."

I dismissed it, "More discrete? Screw that. You adore each other. I'm jealous, but you know what? You are helping me to push myself to get back out there and find my own David or Andrew....AND... I WILL find him!"

Kelsey smiled, "Go, mom!"

I looked at my casts, sighed, and nodded, "Once I get these damn casts off!"

I sat and thought and talked about my future. I was going to let my past be the past. My future started the second I crossed into New York State and my new life was going to be full of happiness and love and that included finding my own man to call mine.

I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Saturday, August 4 2018

I spent the morning as Kelsey asked Andrew to chauffeur us around the garage sales in Gibsontown then lift me into and out of the wheelchair. He never complained and I can see another reason why my daughter loves him.

It wasn't until the tenth house that we struck gold and found a bunch of very nice older glass ornaments and bought the lot. Another house had an entire tote full of Christmas light strings all tangled together inside.

I also found a nice handmade quilt someone's grandma had obviously made. It was stained and neglected, but not torn. People suck. Long ago, someone's grandma had put her heart and soul into it and it was obviously used as a dog blanket or something awful. It was two bucks and I spent ten, or rather asked Kelsey for it, on a tub of OxiClean for it.

Shortly after we got back, Carlos came to the door that day at one in the afternoon and asked, "Ready bird buddy?!"

He was clearly excited and I was too. I was making friends who wanted nothing from me except my friendship. It was still alien to me but wonderful. I started to wheel myself out when he shook his head then picked me up and carried me to his vehicle and set me inside. I protested that he could not carry me the whole time and I could not walk. He assured me he had it covered. We drove for a half hour then drove into a parking lot. He parked at the end and then told me to sit tight as he took something out of the back and was fiddling with it until he brought it over to my door and opened it.

He said, "Behold! A wheelchair for trails!"

It was a wheelchair, but the wheels in the front were much larger. I looked at him and said, "That looks expensive! I can't accept it."

Carlos said, "First. I'm renting it and second, if you think I am letting the possibility of losing a bird buddy happen, you have another thing coming! I've been wanting a bird buddy for YEARS! And one came right into the neighborhood!"

We spent the next four hours going around the main trail and this one long side trail. He took pictures. I took pictures. My life... my wonderful life.

Carlos treated me to dinner at Applebee's. I asked what Hans would think about a dinner date. He replied it was a huge problem... the second I grew a penis. Dumb me. Right. Carlos is a married gay man and he had an agreement with Hans that neither could do anything that looked like a date with a man.. A date would be another man, not me. He mentioned he was an amateur author on some internet site and I promised to read his stories.

We talked about birds the rest of the time and I reveled in having a platonic friend who only wanted my company. Carlos even fetched an old laundry tub from his place and helped me fill it with water and Oxyclean to clean up my quilt. That night, I had it proudly displayed upon my bed, all neat and sparkling clean. I swear I could feel the happy soul of the woman who had spent so much time making it now that it was clean and properly loved again.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Kelsey came home from giving her tours with a look of concern, so I asked her what was going on.

Kelsey looked at me and said, "Mrs. Johanssen asked me to be in a documentary movie. The Northeast Naturist Society is working with Movie Max to make a video about a non-naturist couple coming here to spend three days with a naturist couple. It would feature Andrew and myself at first, but would later include the whole family."

I asked, "So the whole family?"

Kelsey nodded.

I thought about it and it sounded like fun. I have no idea when I had changed but taking part sounded like a lot of fun, "I would love to be in the video."

Kelsey was surprised, "Really?"

I said, "Really!"

Kelsey phoned Leah and explained things then got a call back five minutes later that Andrew's parents and even his brother would be happy to help out. It sounded like fun but would also help Lake Chantrain Naturist Resort and that would help Mrs. Johanssen, whom everyone seemed to love.

We waited for Andrew to come home and Kelsey had her conversation with Andrew in private. It seemed to take a bit but he agreed after a fairly long explanation. I swear Andrew had a strange look of relief on his face, but I did not press them for details.

It would be in several weeks, but we had an agreement for us all to be on a video special that would air on Movie Max this coming autumn.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Another Garage sale Saturday and we scored big late in the day when we stopped at this big McMansion. It was late in the day and no one wanted the dozen huge plastic tubs of Christmas decorations. There was a bonus as it included a seven-foot Balsam Hill tree for my room. Ten bucks because they did not want to hoof it back and were moving in a few weeks. It was an insane amount of stuff and we had to strap three of the tubs to the roof rack and the tree box hung out the back so we had to call David who brought Leah's SUV for the rest and it was also full!

Andrew was our chauffeur and mule again and he did not complain once. Damn I love that kid!

Thursday, August 23, 2018

This was to be the first night of taking video for Movie Max. It was just a preliminary interview and I wore some of my nicer shorts that I had modified to fit over my ankle cast. Kelsey happily wheeled me over to the hotel and we met the hostess and the film crew. Shortly after introductions, they started a sit-down interview with the entire family as we all sat in some rather nice director-style chairs.

They wheeled me over and then helped me sit in one of the director's chairs that were arranged in a U around one chair that was occupied by a woman named Claire who was going to be the hostess of the video. The young couple they were bringing into Lake Chantrain were Chris and Julia Farrell from the Cleveland, Ohio area and from Claire's description, very nice people.

I was only a minor player in the plan, but I was to be part of Friday afternoon where the entire family was to sit and tell our stories, and that included the story that backed up Kelsey's story of how we ended up moving from West Virginia to New York State.

Friday, August 24, 2018

After lunch, it was time for the Farrells to meet the rest of us. Leah wheeled me out and dear Andrew helped me to move from the wheelchair to one of the director's chairs Movie Max had provided. The experience reminded me of the good and bad in life. Bad was being nearly helpless with my ankle cast. Good was having my daughter married to wonderful Andrew who helped me without even having to be asked.

Leah told the Farrells about her history and even the history of her family that went back to a Scots nobleman Ewen Cameron who came to Rhode Island a year before the American Revolution after participating in another rebellion against the British in the Jacobite Rebellion. After Leah talked about her life and family, we headed over to the pool and they all went skinny dipping. Yeah, that was annoying that I could not join in because of this damn cast on my left ankle.

That evening, Movie Max treated us to a catered steak dinner. It was both a small and a big thing to realize I was eating steak and had more of it since I arrived at Lake Chantrain than the rest of my entire life previous to it where even chicken was a bit of a stretch on the budget.

*****

After dinner, it was my turn to tell my amazing and bizarre story of how I came to Lake Chantrain. Claire looked at me and said, "Well, our final almost unbelievable story. Susan, please tell the Farrells your remarkable story."

I realized how odd my story was but I began, "It sounds like the world's saddest country song. I was born to unmarried parents in southern West Virginia. My father was a coal miner who was laid off time and again and was about to be laid off again when he was killed in a mining accident right before his scheduled layoff. My mom took it very badly and we had nothing. The economy down there went from bad to worse and there were no jobs anywhere. We got some welfare but my mom turned to prostitution and drowned her sorrows in booze and pills. To top things off, the apartment building we lived in burned down and we lost what little we had."

I could see my story shocked the Farrells, Julia especially.

I continued, "It's a long way off, but there is a good ending. Anyway, I went full stupid rebellious and took up with Kelsey's father, Troy, and got knocked up at thirteen and delivered Kelsey barely over age fourteen. I lived with her father though he never loved me. He liked me and doted on Kelsey so we got along okay."