During a recent visit with my sister Karla at her condominium on the east coast of Florida, she appeared to be particularly out of sorts this day, so I asked if there was anything wrong. At first, she shrugged it off by saying, "It's nothing to concern yourself with Phil, I guess I'm just feeling a little sorry for myself today, that's all."
Being that the purpose of my visit was to help lift her spirits during what would have been her 45th wedding anniversary, I pressed her to confide the nature of her current funk in order that I might somehow help her to overcome her current difficulty.
She seemed hesitant and somewhat embarrassed, but then reluctantly explained how much she missed the intimacy she had shared with her husband and had taken to watching porn videos. She further confessed to having masturbated to them almost daily. She then added that she was 'as horny as hell lately'.
When I questioned her whether she has had any physical contact with anyone since the death of her husband three and a half years prior, she responded "No, none what-so-ever." Then, after a brief pause, she added "To be completely honest, I'm not sure I know of anyone here with whom I'd be interested in being intimate with."
I then asked if any of her widowed lady friends in her development had a companion, sexual or otherwise. She responded that some do and then told me "There are several widowed women here in the development who organized a sort of 'Widow's Exchange'. She further explained that there were four of them who had originally begun as the 'Wednesday Matinee Theater Group' several years ago, who had lunch out and attended a play or some other type of entertainment each Wednesday afternoon."
Continuing she said, "About two years ago during a matinee outing, one of the club members mentioned that she was willing to share her much younger male companion with whom she had been having a long-term monogamous relationship. She asked her fellow club members if any of them would be interested in her offer and if so, to let her know during the following week. She promised that she would not divulge who, if anyone one of them responded in the affirmative."
My sister went on to say that it turned out each of the other three ladies responded saying that they were indeed interested. Their reasoning was, so long as the male companion and each of the four ladies promised not to have intimate relations with anyone outside of their 'Widows Exchange' circle of participants, this should afford them a reasonable degree of protection against the possibility of sharing any forms of sexually transmitted infections.
I asked, "Was the Exchange successful?"
Karla responded smiling "Oh, yes. It still is, they all love the arrangement. They even had customized calendars made with the photo of the 'Exchange Member' displayed on the days that each of them has the undivided attention or 'services' of the male companion or 'stud' as they affectionately refer to him.
Intrigued I asked, "Does he have to 'perform' for them each and every day there together?"
Responding, Karla offered, "Only if he wants to.", and then added "But I don't think it would be received well if he refused too often not to do so. And why would he chance doing so? He's got himself a willing harem, and at no cost to him. Every fifth day is his 'free day' and he can spend that time however he wishes. He can go out by himself or decide to spend the day (and evening) with whichever one of the ladies he wishes, and he can either refrain from servicing her or not, it's his call without fear of any repercussions."
"Does he have a place of his own?" I asked.
"Not any longer. He has a stash of clothes and necessities at each of the members apartments. He really has it pretty good, as he doesn't have very many expenses. His only contribution is his companionship, intimate and otherwise and some infrequent chores that he might perform for the ladies. The ladies actually try to have everything taken care of by a member of the maintenance staff on the days that he's visiting with one of the other 'Exchange Members'. It's amazing how you can tell who he had been with the previous night, that 'Exchange Member' beams like a new bride."
Chuckling I said, "I guess he must be really good at performing the services he renders."
"Must be." Karla responded with a grin.
I then asked Karla "What about you, have you ever considered 'joining' the Exchange Club yourself? You know, getting involved to help satisfy those sexual urges that you've been experiencing."
Karla answered, "They did invite me to join some time ago, but I respectfully declined. They still do however include me in some of their conversations regarding 'the club', that's the only reason I'm as aware as I am."
She continued, "But no, even though their shared partner has pledged not to associate himself with anyone other the Exchange Club members, all he has to do is stray just once, or anyone of them for that matter and all assurances of safe sex protection becomes questionable and it all goes out the window. As you are undoubtedly aware Phil, there are a number of sexually transmitted infections, STI's that can easily be spread by sharing a common sexual partner. The greater the number of sex partners, the greater the chances of being infected. No, I'd rather continue to be celibate and use my trusty vibrator and fingers to pleasure myself, rather than be the unfortunate recipient of a vaginal infection or worse and then have to spend endless days worrying about it, and having to take who knows how many drugs to combat it."
I responded, "I can't disagree, I guess abstinence is the best prophylactic."
Karla nodded as she said, "At least you don't have my problem, you have Meg to satisfy your intimate needs and urges."
When I didn't respond and looked away, Karla placed her hand on mine and asked, "You do, don't you? Meg and you... I mean, you do..., you're still being intimate... sexually active, aren't you?"
I simply responded: "Aren't!"
Somewhat bewildered Karla asked, "For how long?"
To which I responded, "It's just over fourteen years and four months now."
"Shit, you've gone without sex much longer than I have and I've been complaining to you. Why not? Is there or was there someone else?" she asked.