Dear DOMAI
Many years ago, as an electrician, I was doing some work in the kitchen of a customer. Very conspicuously displayed on the refrigerator was one of the computer printouts that used only text characters to make a picture. It was a naked girl. I remember thinking how clever the picture looked and was quite amazed at the detail that could be seen using this format. I could not help but to periodically glance over at the refrigerator to look at this printout picture.
It wasn’t until a while later that the daughter came home. She was a simple beauty. I suppose she was in her late teens or early 20’s. Her smile was the first thing that struck me. She had one of those smiles that were both innocent and devilish at the same time. That’s when it hit me. That computer picture, as rudimentary as it was, showed the naked girl with the same smile. It was her!
As I kept working, she would come and go. Each time she would stay a few moments and I would quickly do a comparison between her and the picture. She had to know I made the connection. As I continued to work, I began to wonder where she went as she had stopped returning to the kitchen area. When I finally found her, I was stunned. She had decided to get a sun tan by the pool….in the nude. Her body was flawless. Only a few seconds went by before her phone rang and ended that brief but amazing view. Although we never made eye contact while she was naked, I am certain she knew I saw her as I was not moving about quietly (a loaded down electrician cannot move about without making a fair amount of noise).
This experience has stayed with me for over 20 years. I wondered almost daily for a while, what would possess a girl to put a nude picture of herself in a place in her home that could be seen by all. I could not imagine that her mother or father would allow such a thing. I wanted to know how a person can get to be that way.
That was then. Over the years the answers have come to me, one by one. I have come to realize that this girl must have been raised by two wonderful and supportive parents. The fact that she could display her full beauty the way she did is indicative of a girl who is at ease with herself. Her self-confidence was probably the most inspiring thing to me. That is because I have 2 teenage daughters right now. Most girls lose the majority of their self-esteem by the time they become teens. My wife and I intend for our girls to beat the odds.
We have discussed the many things that parents can do for their children. I suggested that my wife pose nude for a professional photographer. She agreed. She of course does not have the body of a young woman anymore. But that does not matter as her real beauty is her confidence. My daughters, and all others who visit my home, will see that as well. It’s funny how the events of yesteryear can come back with such force and clarity.
-John
