Earlier this summer (2001), I had the opportunity to introduce two of my very close friends to each other – Julie and Ann. We spent the day together talking about anything and everything and learning so much from each other. I think all three of us came away better for it. Here’s what happened.

One day I had a call from my friend, Ann inviting me to go with her out to her husband’s parent’s home in the country for the day. His parents were on an extended vacation again and she was going out to their place every few days just to kind of keep an eye on things for them. A trip like this usually included a lot of fun in their swimming pool after the work was all done. She knew that I had the day off from my job at the local community center pools and so she was timing this outing to include me if I wanted to go. It would be just Ann and the kids going. Jim, her husband was out of the country for a couple of weeks working on a big international project for his company. Also, Ann was about seven months pregnant at the time, not that that slowed her down very much.

I mentioned to her that my best friend, Julie and I were planning to get together that day to do something although we hadn’t yet made any specific plans. Julie had an even more erratic schedule this summer than I did, which made it difficult sometimes for us to get together. She was taking a summer class at the local college that we both attend and also working for her mom in her mom’s dress shop. Or I should say dress shops – they had just opened a second store and Julie was trying to help pick up some of the slack as they got the new store up to speed.

To my surprise, Ann told me to invite Julie to come along if I’d like. I say that I was surprised because some time ago when I told Ann and Jim about how I had introduced one of my friends (Jeff) to nudism, they felt they should clarify what their involvement with my friends would and would not be. I had never tried to impose on Ann and Jim’s hospitality in that regard, but they just felt we should have an understanding right up front. Ann had said that while they thought it was fine for me to introduce my friends to nudism, they would not be comfortable including my friends in a nude mixed-gender situation. They felt that it would put her and Jim in a bad position since my friends’ parents didn’t know about these activities and probably wouldn’t approve if they did know. She felt that because she and Jim were older, it would appear that they were encouraging and even sponsoring these activities and they didn’t want to create or be part of any family conflicts. This made sense to me and I told them that I fully understood and respected their position.

So when I asked why the exception now for Julie, Ann said that since it would just be us girls (except for her son, Mark who is five), then that would be OK. Julie had read about my afternoon out with Ann’s family last summer, so when I asked her if she’d like to go, she enthusiastically said yes and couldn’t wait to meet Ann. I called Ann back with the news and we agreed that we’d all meet at Ann’s place and drive out together. I volunteered Julie and I to put together lunch to take for everyone.

When the day came, I picked Julie up at her place to go to the store to get the things we needed for lunch and then we went back to my place to prepare it. When that was done, we went over to Ann’s.

All morning Julie had been saying how excited she was to be meeting Ann. She had read all that I had written about Ann and I had told her a lot more even than that. Something to keep in mind is that up until now, I had not revealed Ann’s real identity to Julie because of Ann and Jim’s request that I keep their identities private.

When we arrived at Ann and Jim’s house and rang the doorbell, the kids, Mark (5) and Sarah (3) answered the door. They were so excited to see me and both of them wanted to hug me at the same time so I hugged them both putting an arm around each one. Then I introduced them to Julie. Sarah immediately reached up to give her a hug, too (she knows no strangers). Then Ann came in and greeted us. Ann and I hugged and then I introduced her to Julie.

"It’s so nice to meet you," Ann said smiling and offering both hands to Julie.

"It’s nice to meet you, too," Julie said taking her hands. "Sunny has told me so much about you that I feel like I already know you."

"I feel the same way," Ann said. "You’re just as pretty as Sunny said you were."

Julie said in mock surprise, "She said that about me? I’ll have to be nice to her today!"

We all laughed and talked a bit more, but the kids were anxious to get going so we loaded everything we were taking into Ann’s minivan and headed out.

It was only about a twenty-minute drive before we pulled into the long driveway leading up to the house. I described this home and property in detail in an earlier story, so I won’t repeat myself here. Ann opened one of the garage doors and we went in.

After we were inside and had things situated, Ann said, "I’m going to go around and do a little cleaning in here. Sunny, if we you and Julie wouldn’t mind taking the kids outside and maybe cleaning the pool and the deck area, that would be a big help. Kind of like we did last summer, remember?"

"Sure, we’d be happy to do that," I said. Julie nodded in agreement.

"Thank you so much," Ann said sincerely to us both. And then to Julie she said, "And Julie, the kids and I are going to be nude the rest of the day out here and Sunny probably will, too, but I want you to feel completely free to be dressed or nude – whichever you prefer and makes you most comfortable. Either way is completely fine and acceptable with all of us here. OK?"

"Oh, well, thanks," Julie said somewhat caught off guard. "But you know…when in Rome…" she said shrugging her shoulders and smiling as the kids led us out the back door. I don’t think Julie could even comprehend not spending the day nude when this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

We went down the stairs onto the patio and pool deck and over to the side of the pool house. There we got undressed and hung our clothes on the hooks on the wall there as the kids had showed me last summer. When all our clothes were hung up, I suggested that Julie and the kids go around the area and sweep up any leaves and other stuff and then hose down the furniture and deck while I cleaned the pool. Although Jim had done this job the last time, I remembered where everything was so I went to work.

We all kept on task and finished up before too long. The kids were ready to hop in the pool and wanted Julie and me to swim with them, but first I insisted that we put everything away before we start to play. Once that was done, then I told the kids it was OK to swim. They hopped in and immediately called for me to join them. I asked Julie if she would play with them while I went back inside to see if I could be of any help to Ann.

I found Ann doing some dusting in the upstairs bedrooms.

"What can I do to help you?" I asked.

"I’ll be all done when this dusting up here is finished," she said. "If you’d like to grab a dust cloth and help me out, that would be great," she answered and told me where to find another dust cloth.

I ran downstairs, grabbed another dust cloth and ran back upstairs to lend a hand.

"Thank you for all your help," Ann said. "I feel bad that Julie is doing chores since she’s kind of our guest today."

"Oh, she’s fine with it," I said. "She and the kids had fun cleaning the pool deck. It was more like play than work and it gave them a chance to get to know each other."

"Good," Ann said.

"She’s playing with the kids in the pool now. And besides, she wouldn’t be any help to us up here. She doesn’t know the first thing about house cleaning– they’ve always had a cleaning lady."

"That would be a nice problem to have," Ann joked.

"That was very considerate of you to tell Julie that she could stay dressed if she wanted to," I said. "Not that she wanted to or anything, but that was a nice courtesy to extend to someone new. I’ll have to remember that."

"It’s always good to make people feel comfortable," Ann said.

Ann of course was nude, too. It was rather warm in the house due to the fact that the air conditioning was either off or set pretty high since the house was unoccupied while her parents were gone. Both of us were working in the same room. Ann was already sweating in the warmth and before long I was, too.

I hadn’t seen Ann nude since our camping trip last fall and I couldn’t help myself wanting to observe the changes in her body now that she was pregnant. I was trying not to be obvious about it, but she was actually the first pregnant woman I had ever seen nude other than pictures in textbooks. I didn’t stare or anything (at least I tried not to), but I couldn’t help noticing that even though her formerly flat abdomen was now rounded way out with the baby girl inside that would be born before long, the lines and curves of her body were still as smooth and natural as they were before, but now in a different way. As she worked she still moved with all the grace and efficiency that she always had. I was thinking how beautiful, natural, and normal she looked this way, too and I wondered why women were often ashamed of being pregnant and why they often tried to hide the fact. Why wasn’t everyone open and accepting of their pregnancy? Why weren’t they proud of it like Ann? To see Ann and experience her attitude toward this and her previous pregnancies made it seem like a wonderful and joyous part of a woman’s life.

We continued to chat as we worked from room to room. The time went fast and soon we were finished. We hurried downstairs to put things away and get out to the pool to cool off.

Julie had the kids well in hand when we got there (or maybe it was the other way around). Ann took the steps into the water, walked out into the middle, swam over into the deep end, and then dove towards the bottom and surfaced at the far end. Sarah called to her and she slowly swam back to join her daughter and Julie in the shallow part.

Mark wanted me to dive in so I went around to the deep end of the pool and dove in from the deck (no diving board). The sudden shock of the coolness of the water felt so good after being in the warm house. When I surfaced Mark wanted me to watch him dive, so we all watched him. Then he wanted me to do a backwards dive like I had done last summer for him so I climbed out and did that for him (ungraceful as it was). Following a couple of those, he asked me to show him how to do it, so with Ann’s permission, we did that.

We swam and played like that into the early afternoon until the kids started saying they were hungry. At that point, we brought lunch out to the patio and enjoyed our meal. After we cleaned up and put away lunch, Ann had the kids lay down for their nap on the padded lounge chairs in the shade. Sarah insisted on a hug and kiss from all three of us before she was content to lie down.

The three of us made our way back to the pool. Ann stepped into the water, sat down on the first step just into the water, and leaned back on her elbows to relax and enjoy the sunshine. I sat down on the steps beside her and Julie sat on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water on the other side of her.

As we enjoyed our time relaxing outdoors on this lazy afternoon, the conversation went something like this:

Ann said, "Julie, Sunny told me a little bit about your introduction into all this."

Julie replied, "Yeah, it was sort of a painful process for everybody."

I said, "That’s because I should’ve just told you about my nudist activities a long time ago instead of keeping it from you like I did."

Julie said, "Well, maybe that was part of it, but I went off the deep end and jumped to conclusions that were totally stupid and totally wrong about my friends."

Then Ann interjected positively, "Yes, but look at you now."

Julie laughed and said, "Yeah, look at me now! Who would of thought it!"

I said jokingly, "Certainly not me."

"Hey now," Julie fired back with a light-hearted jab. "That just shows how much you know!"

I laughed and replied, "That’s true. Never underestimate Julie. That’s what I know now."

Julie said, "That’s right. Maybe you’re trainable after all."

We all laughed.

Then Julie said, "Hey, I forgot to tell you what happened the other morning at home. I overslept big time and Mom came in and woke me up and told me what time it was. It was so late! I just jumped out of bed without remembering that I was sleeping nude."

"So what did your mom say?" I asked.

Julie said, "She looked startled for a second and then said in her ‘dry sarcasm’ voice (Julie imitated this voice), ‘Something you learned in our conservative local college?’."

We laughed and then Ann asked, "What did you say?"

Julie laughed and said, "I just blamed it on Sunny."

"What!? No you didn’t!" I replied. I’ve known Julie’s parents for as long as she and I have been friends. I was pretty sure she was kidding.

Julie laughed again and said, "No. I just told her we’d talk about it later and then I hurried on in to the bathroom to get ready. I was so late! Neither of us has mentioned it since, but I probably should discuss it with her."

Ann said, "It would be the perfect lead in."

Julie said, "Well, I probably better not tell her everything at once. You know, about me and Jeff nude together. That would freak her out for sure! I’ll just tell her that I’ve started sleeping nude because it’s more comfortable and restful. There’s no harm in that."

Ann asked, "Are you afraid she’ll be angry with you?"

Julie replied, "Oh no, not at all. She’ll probably just say (imitating her mom’s voice again), ‘Well just don’t let your father find out. You know how he over reacts’."

We laughed again. Julie can sound exactly like her mom when she wants to. I could see that Ann was enjoying Julie’s sense of humor as they were becoming better acquainted.

Then Ann said to Julie, "You seem completely comfortable being nude. Not everyone would feel that way so early on. You know, being out here someplace you’ve never been before and meeting me and the kids for the first time."

"Oh, well, I’m just following you and Sunny," Julie said. "But I do feel just fine about it. It seems so…normal."

"I certainly agree with that," Ann said.

"I mean, nobody is more surprised than me about me liking to be nude like this," Julie went on. "Clothes have been my life. Still are, but this has become important, too."

"How so?" Ann asked.

"Well, it’s like…when I take my clothes off…it’s like I’m taking off all my cares and worries, too," Julie said. "It’s sort of like I’ve gone into another dimension or something. I mean it’s not like I’m running away from my responsibilities or anything like that. I’m just putting them aside for awhile."

"Makes sense to me," Ann said.

Julie said, "Yeah. It’s like I can’t do anything about anything when I’m nude, so I might as well just enjoy this time away. Have a little fun, you know? Anyhow, that’s how it seems to me."

Then Ann asked, "Did you learn that from Sunny?"

Julie replied, "I think Sunny mentioned things like that, but I guess I really learned it on my own a little later when I began to wonder why being nude was so much fun and so relaxing and just so…the way it should be."

"That’s good insight on your part," Ann said.

"But hey, here’s what I learned from Sunny," Julie said and then looking at me she said, "And I’ve never told you all this stuff although Jeff and I have talked about it some."

She went on talking to Ann, "When I first found out that Sunny was a nudist and I decided to find out what that was all about – you know, after the storm blew over and I came back to my senses - I guess I didn’t really know what to expect for sure, but I expected there to be some sort of big difference about her. I don’t know, like she would somehow be someone other than Sunny-my-best-friend when she was being a quote unquote nudist. At any rate, I was going to ask her all about it and make her tell me everything. Then I figured I would be able to find flaws in her reasons for doing it and argue with her and prove that it was wrong and that she was wrong for doing it. And after I got done with her, I figured I’d go do the same thing with Jeff."

"So anyway, I get to her apartment and go on in because she doesn’t answer the door and it’s unlocked. And I find her asleep on her bed and she’s nude. Now I’m thinking, OK, she’s a nudist so I guess she sleeps nude. See, I told you I didn’t know what to expect, so this is just how my simple mind was processing all this stuff. It had been a long night. OK, so I wake her up and tell her I want to know all about this nudist thing. So she gets up and walks into the kitchen - nude –no hesitation; no explanation, – and I’m thinking OK, she’s a nudist so she walks around her apartment nude, but she’ll go put something on before we sit down to talk. But she didn’t. She just starts making coffee and talking to me like everything is normal. Now I’m thinking hey, what’s up with all this?"

Ann asked, "So you were a little shocked?"

"Yeah," Julie said. "And no. I mean, I’d seen little Miss Shape cover girl here nude before lots of times so that was nothing new. But then that was in the locker room where you expect that. Now here we were in her kitchen and she’s doing what she always does, but she’s nude. So I’m asking her things and she’s telling me things and all the while I’m watching her and listening to her really closely."

And to me she said, "Sunny, I don’t know if you picked up on that or not at the time."

Back to Ann she said, "But, I was trying to see what was different about her, but nothing was! She still talked in the same calm, quiet way that she does when she’s being serious. She looked straight at me as we talked – never looking away or anything like she felt inferior or like she was doing anything wrong. She still moved gracefully like she always does. She was still as open and sincere as ever. She wasn’t trying to hide anything. She wasn’t looking at me to see if I was looking at her. It was the same Sunny – exactly the same."

Ann asked, "And that’s not what you were expecting, was it?"

Julie replied, "No. So we’re sitting there talking like we always have, except we’re talking about nudism, and pretty soon I’m so into the conversation that I’m not even thinking about the fact that she’s nude right there in front of me. Then she gets up to get us more coffee and I’m watching her pour and suddenly it finally hits me – she’s showing me what nudism is all about. I’m sitting there asking all these stupid, vague questions that don’t even make any sense to me and all the while Sunny has completely let down her guard and is being totally open and trusting with me. She’s letting me see with my own eyes what nudism is all about to her. That’s when I realized that hey, I’m not going to find any difference in her – she’s the same person I’ve always known. Everything I liked about her before, I’ll still like about her now. This is just another aspect of her life that she’s now sharing with me."

"So what did that do to your argument?" Ann asked.

"There was nothing to argue about," Julie answered. "I had expected her to list all sorts of goofy reasons why I and the rest of the world should burn our clothes and run around stark naked for the rest of our lives, but all she did was tell me why she did it – what it meant to her. She never even once suggested I try it. She just said that it’s not for everybody and that everybody needs to decide for themselves. All she wanted from me was to still be friends."

Ann asked, "How could you argue with that?"

"Why would I want to?" Julie answered in the form of a question. "I felt like such an idiot. I had misjudged my best friend in so many ways. First, thinking that she and my boyfriend had something going on behind my back. Second, that she must have this sort of dark side to her – like a Jekyll and Hyde thing, you know? And third, thinking that she was going to try to cram a bunch of stupid ideas down my throat. I was so totally wrong. But anyhow, all that told me a lot about what I could probably expect from Jeff, as well. And that’s exactly what I found out when I went to talk to him later."

Ann asked, "So what made you decide to actually try it for yourself? Did Jeff ask you to?"

"No, it was all my idea," Julie said. "When I was talking to Jeff, he was telling me a lot of the same things I had heard from Sunny. And sensing his enthusiasm and knowing that this was something that two very important people in my life were really into in a big way told me a lot. I knew I couldn’t just ignore it like it was some kind of phase they were going through or something. I knew it was something they would continue with. And since it was so important to Jeff, I knew I didn’t want to try to get him to stop doing it although I made it clear that I was still none too happy about him and Sunny doing it together. So I thought I had better learn all I could so that I could understand him better. As we talked, he said something like, ‘I’ll tell you everything that words can explain’ or something like that. That’s when it began to dawn on me that if I really wanted to know what this was all about, I should just try it. I knew Sunny would help me and I knew I would be comfortable with that. I didn’t think I would like it much, but at least no one could ever say, ‘Well how do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it?’."

Than Ann said, "So you tried it."

"So I tried it," Julie said. "Sunny led me through it. She was so patient and considerate. I wouldn’t have put up with me at all, but she did. She set the example and I just followed her lead. Being with her and seeing how comfortable and confident she was made me soon feel the same way. I was totally surprised."

"Sunny must have done a good job," Ann said, "because here you are."

Julie answered, "Yeah, she’s the greatest. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher. But you know, I was really looking forward to meeting you today, Ann. I wanted to see what someone would be like who had been a nudist all her life. You know, I wanted to see if there was any difference between you and Sunny."

"And?" Ann asked.

Julie laughed and said, "I’m not seeing any. I don’t know why I keep trying to make nudism so complicated. It’s so simple really. That’s the beauty of it."

"That pretty much says it all," Ann said. "It’s not something you have to study for or get training in or be raised in. You just do it and enjoy it. Anybody can. It’s normal, it’s natural, it’s practical, it’s…simple."

Then Julie said to Ann, "I do have a confession to make, though. I’ve never seen a pregnant woman nude before today and…well…I’ve probably been staring too much. I’m sorry and I hope I haven’t made you uncomfortable."

Before Ann could reply, I said, "I’m guilty of that, too, Ann – for the same reason. I apologize."

"Hey, what’s all this true confession stuff?" Ann said laughing. "Yeah, I picked up on you studying me while we were dusting upstairs, Sunny. And yeah, I sensed you checking me out, too, Julie. But, it’s OK. It doesn’t bother me - not in the least. I guess I’m just a little surprised that neither of you has seen anyone nude who is pregnant. Didn’t you ever see your mothers nude when they were pregnant? Well, I guess you couldn’t have, Sunny, since you’re an only child. But how about you, Julie?"

"Nope, I’m the baby of the family," Julie said. "My dad always says they were afraid to have another baby, because it might turn out like me."

We all laughed at that.

Then Ann said, "Well, I’m glad you’re getting a glimpse of what this aspect of womanhood is like. Just like nudism, being pregnant is normal and natural, too. My body looks like it’s supposed to look – it’s nothing to be ashamed of or hidden away. Jim and I chose to get pregnant – we’re happy about it – and I’m not the least bit reluctant about anyone seeing me with the baby girl that’s miraculously growing inside of me."

"The funny thing is," Julie began. "It seems like most women when they’re pregnant hate the way they look or are ashamed of it and that spills over into the attitude they have about it."

"Sad, but true," Ann answered. "Oh, every now and then somebody famous will show up on a magazine cover or someplace touting their pregnancy and trying to stir up some publicity, but by and large, most women think it’s something to be ashamed of. Why do you think that’s so?"

Julie replied, "I guess they think they look fat."

Ann asked, "And so what do they do about it?"

Julie replied, "They wear maternity clothes that try to hide or play down the fact that they’re pregnant."

"And does it work?" Ann asked.

"No, not really," Julie answered. "It just makes them look…fat."

"Right," Ann answered. "Exactly the way they don’t want to look."

"Yeah," Julie said as she began to see the paradox. "They lose sight of the fact that pregnancy is a perfectly normal condition."

"Not only that," Ann added. "They also miss out on the joy and anticipation that they should be having."

Ann abruptly paused for a second as she looked down at her abdomen. She was again leaning back on her elbows as she remained seated on the step into the pool. Without looking up at us, she said, "Speaking of which…look."

After a pause, she asked, "Do you see it?"

"See what?" Julie asked. We were both looking where Ann was looking, but we didn’t see whatever it was she was talking about.

"Watch right here," Ann said now pointing to an area of her abdomen just off to the side nearest me.

Julie scooted off the edge of the pool deck and came over closer to Ann so that she could see where Ann was pointing. We both saw it at the same time. A slight bulge came up and then went down.

"There! Did you see it? Did you see her move?" Ann asked.

About that time it happened again. Julie and I both said that we saw it as we stared in amazement hoping that it would happen again. Then suddenly the bulge came out again and moved several inches across Ann before going back down.

"Oh!" Ann exclaimed in surprise. "That was major."

"This is so totally amazing," Julie said. "I’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never seen it. Does this happen all the time?"

"Oh, maybe several times a day," Ann answered. "She gets kind of busy in there sometimes. I think maybe she’s going to be a gymnast or something!"

"So amazing," Julie said again as she watched to see if the baby would move again.

Ann said to Julie, "Here – feel right here" as she pointed to a certain place on her abdomen. Unsure whether she really should or not, Julie slowly placed her hand on Ann’s abdomen.

"Here," Ann said as she took Julie’s hand and moved it slightly and then pressed down on it a little bit.

A sudden look of surprise came over Julie’s face and she exclaimed, "Oh my…oh my…oh my…she’s right there…that’s her…she just right there. Sunny…Sunny…she’s right here! The baby is right here!" Tears of joy and amazement had filled her eyes as she felt the miracle of a new life forming and awakening.

"What is that?" Julie asked.

Ann replied smiling in understanding, "It’s probably an elbow or a heel."

"Sunny, here, feel the baby!" Julie said overflowing with enthusiasm.

I was sitting next to Ann, so I got up on my knees and put my hand where Julie’s had been. Ann took my hand and pressed it more firmly against her like she had done with Julie. I could feel the firmness of some part of the baby just like Julie had. And just like Julie, I was totally awestruck with the realization that here was a life being created.

"Ann, this is so amazing," I said. "I mean, even though I knew babies moved around inside before they were born, actually being so close to it – actually seeing and feeling it like this is just…a revelation, I guess. It makes it so much more real!"

"Yeah, so real," Julie said before Ann could speak. "She’s not even born yet, but already she’s alive and active. She’s a real person – already!"

Ann replied, "Yeah, and I can tell you from experience that even before Sarah was born, I could tell that she was going to be different than Mark and in the same way I can already detect differences between this one and the other two – just by how active she is, for one thing."

Julie was still in the water standing but now leaning against the side of the pool. She had her hand on her own abdomen as she said, "I just can’t imagine what that must feel like."

"Well, my advice is don’t find out until you’re married and ready for it," Ann admonished.

We both agreed with her. By now, I had returned to where I was sitting before and I said, "Well, Ann, we apologized for staring at you, but then we proceeded to put our hands all over you. I’m sorry – that for sure must have made you uncomfortable."

"No," Ann replied. "I have Jim and the kids do it whenever they’re around and the baby decides to put on a show. It’s OK. I have no secrets. And besides, it would seem that you two need some practical education on what being pregnant is like. I’m glad I can be an example for you."

Then she added with a familiar twinkle in her eye that told me that the conversation about to take a humorous twist, "Hey, I don’t need to tell you about the birds and the bees, too, do I?"

We all laughed. Then Ann proceeded to tell us about the particular episode that she thought led to the conception of the baby. And if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Julie started asking her questions about it! Which was all the encouragement Ann needed to go into even more detail. Before it was over, even Julie was embarrassed (a very rare occasion). Whew!!! See what I have to put up with!

Well, we continued on enjoying a relaxing time together in and around the pool on a hot summer afternoon and sharing lots and lots of girl talk until after a while, Mark woke up from his nap followed shortly by Sarah. Then it was time for more playing and swimming and diving until it was time to go. We then loaded up the van, closed up the house, and drove back to Ann’s home. Then Julie and I said our good-bye’s and shared hugs with the kids and Ann.

As we were pulling away from Ann’s house, I was about to ask Julie her thoughts on Ann, but before I had the chance she said enthusiastically, "I want to be like her when I grow up."

That may have sounded funny coming from a twenty year old woman (we both have to keep reminding ourselves that we’re already grown up), but I knew exactly what she meant. Ann’s confident and friendly demeanor has the ability to not only put you at ease, but also make you have more confidence in yourself, as well. Julie was definitely influenced during the time that we had spent with Ann that day. I’ve talked to Ann about her apparent self-confidence before and I asked her if she thought being a nudist all her life had anything to do with it. She said she didn’t know because she’s always been a nudist and she’s never felt any other way about herself. So whatever it is, I can tell you that it sure is contagious whenever I’m around her. And it goes without saying that she makes nudism seem every bit as normal as wearing clothes.

Ann is a great friend and mentor and someone that I admire and look up to. She is very generous with her time and patience with me and I know I’m a better person for it. I’m so grateful for her and to her. It was such a privilege for me to introduce Julie to her and see them become friends as well. We all had a great day together.