To Jody, With Thanks
When a forty‑four‑year‑old divorcee follows Jody’s footsteps to a nude resort and finds the welcome Jody deserved the first time.
Moderator Note: We hit 10,000 views this week. I have been deleting death threats and approving comments from people who found us because a friend sent them Jody’s post. Jody, you started this. Clara wrote this for you. Sam
To Jody, With Thanks
By Clara_44
I read your post at two in the morning while eating cold spaghetti over the sink. I am forty-four years old, divorced, and I have not been naked in front of anyone since my ex-husband told me my stomach made him sad. I have been fat since puberty, and I have been ashamed since approximately three minutes before that.
Your post wrecked me. I sat on my kitchen floor with a fork in my hand and cried because you described the exact fear I have been carrying: that my body is a rude interruption in other people’s nice day.
I almost did not go. I found a small resort two hours north of me. Family-run. No volleyball photos. Just an old website with a phone number. I called, and a woman named Barb answered. I said, “I am nervous, and I am fat.” She said, “Honey, we have fat, skinny, tall, short, and one guy with a prosthetic leg who wins at poker every Saturday. Come on Tuesday. It is quiet on Tuesdays.”
I drove there expecting your story. Expecting the stares, the silence, the grocery-store smile.
Instead, a man in his seventies helped me carry my chair to a spot in the shade. He did not ask why I brought so many towels. He just said, “You will want one for your neck. The sun is mean today.” A woman about my age asked if I wanted to join their card game. I said I did not know how to play. She said, “Perfect. We need someone to blame when we lose.” A kid, maybe sixteen, asked if I wanted a lemonade from the cooler. He looked me in the eyes. He did not look away from my body. He looked at me like I was a person who might be thirsty.
I stayed six hours. I have not stayed anywhere for six hours in years without wanting to apologize for taking up space.
Jody, I am telling you this because your post is the reason I went. Your honesty made my fear feel smaller. And I need you to know that place you visited? It is not all of them. There are spots where a fat, middle-aged divorcee can sit by a pool and nobody treats her like furniture. They treat her like a neighbor.
I do not know if you will try again. I would not blame you if you did not. But if you do, I will drive to wherever you are, and I will sit next to you with my stomach folding over itself, and I will remind you that we are not wrong. We are just early to a party that has not yet learned to welcome us.
My name is Clara. I am forty-four. I am naked right now, but this time I am smiling.
Comments
Jody: Clara, I am crying. I needed this more than I knew. If you ever find that resort again, tell me where it is.
Clara_44: @Jody Barb says Tuesdays are still quiet. She says to tell you she has a chair with your name on it.
Desiree_33: Y'all. I am not crying. I am just allergic to hope.
Mark_47: This is what it should be. Every time.
Aisha_B: I said I was staying home. Clara, you might have just changed my mind.
Greg_52: @Aisha_B Come on out. We need more people like you and fewer like Ryan.
YoungNFree22: This is the best post on here. Period.
Sofia_19: @YoungNFree22 I am still scared. But I am less scared than I was yesterday.
Nate_29: Sofia, I will be at the beach this Saturday. If you show up, I will not sit on your towel. I will just say hi from a respectful distance and let you decide the rest.
Sofia_19: @Nate_29 That is literally the bar and you just cleared it.
Heather_38: This is such a beautiful, positive story! I really wish some of the earlier posts had focused more on this kind of joy instead of all the confrontation. Nudism should be about feeling free, not fighting with each other. Just my two cents. So happy for you, Clara!
Desiree_33: @Heather_38 "All the confrontation"? You mean Jody saying she felt invisible and Jen saying she was harassed? Those posts were joy for someone. Just not you.
Heather_38: @Desiree_33 I just think we could all benefit from more stories like Clara's. That's all. No need to attack me for wanting positivity.
Sam_Moderator: I am leaving this thread unlocked. I am going to get a drink and check back in an hour. If anyone ruins this, I will retire.
Footnote from Sam: One comment was removed from this thread. Someone decided Clara's good day needed to be about their grievances. It is always the same two names in my inbox. I am tired.
New entries in the Naked Voices thread go up every Tuesday and Friday. Read along in order to follow the whole conversation.
