It Seemed Like a Great Idea

The other factor was that I already knew, but had forgotten that Hans and Inge did not believe in putting on garments when they swim or sleep. We didn’t swim at the motel, but there wasn’t a lot to prevent me from feeling his body heat while we slept. Actually, I spent most of the first night, trying to keep some space between us. He slept soundly.  His wife showed no signs the next day of being unhappy with the arrangement. On the second night, I relaxed a bit and didn’t panic if a part of my body not enclosed in pajamas inadvertently made contact with his unclad body. There was still almost a week before they were scheduled to leave. I realized that if there was any chance for our friendship to survive, our time together needed to be shortened. I called my friend who had traveled with me to Germany. She was more than happy to extend them hospitality for a few days. This all took place six years ago. Inge and I have not been in contact but Hans and I email a few times a year. At first, I tried to discuss with him what went wrong and what we could have done differently. He just said that it was his wife’s first time in the States and she had a hard time of it but that it had been a wonderful family vacation.  So be it.