'Go on.'
'The two of them talked a bit, and we sat there for a little while, and the rest of them joined us.'
'Naked.'
'Sure. Why not?'
'What happened then?'
'Susan started looking around, and realized that all of us loved her, for pretty much the same reasons, and that she loved us the same way.
There was a little talking, and then she had her, uh, epiphany.'
'Epiphany.'
'Yeah, I suppose that's the closest thing to what you could call it.'
'What would you say happened?'
'She just sort of realized that we loved her and she loved us and that everything was cool between all of us.'
'Cool.'
'Yeah – we loved her for the good stuff that's in her, and know that she loves us for the good stuff that's in us. That whole love and values thing I told you about.'
'And all this happened with all of you naked, and Susan sitting on your lap – but no sex happened between you.'
'Steve, do you love you wife?'
'Of course.'
'Do you love her any more or any less, whether she'd got clothes on or not?'
'Of course not!'
'Do you have to have sex with her to love her?'
'Certainly not.'
'Then why is it so hard for you to understand that I, and Susan, and Kelly, and all the others could love each other, naked or not, without having sex?'
That seemed to stop him dead in his tracks – there was nothing but silence at the other end of the line for a couple of minutes.
'You make your point well, Dan. But I'm still uncomfortable with all this.'
'Fine. Are you uncomfortable that it happened, or that you don't think you know how to deal with it?'
After a bit, I heard the sigh, before he answered 'More that I'm not sure how to deal with it. Nor will my wife, I'm afraid.'
'Do you love Susan?'
'Of course I do.'
'Then tell her that. For the same reasons, and in the same way, she told you. It's called truth, and honesty, and trust. Pretty radical concepts.'
'Yes, I've heard of them. I just haven't seen them applied in quite this way before.'
'Well, just look at Susan, and decide if they work, or not, for yourself.'
'It's going to make quite a change around here, you know.'
'So being honest and faithful and trusting in and with your family is a
'Bad? No, I don't think so. But it will certainly be difficult.'
'Was law school good for you?'
'Yes,'
'But worth the difficulty.'
'Certainly so – and your point is taken.'
'Steve, I promise – once you get past the problem of actually doing it, it gets a whole lot easier. And it is definitely worth it. I think Susan would be the proof of that.'
'Indeed she is. Okay, Dan, it looks like you're off the hook. We'll see later if I thank you for this, or not.'
'I'm willing to take my chances. Particularly on people such as yourself and Susan.'
With that, he closed the connection, and Kelly finally fell out of the chair she was in, gasping for breath as she laughed out loud. I grinned at her, and she managed to gasp out ''both naked at the time' – boy you know how to set them up and then knock them down!'
It took her probably half an hour before she finally calmed down enough to go back to studying – and even then for the rest of the afternoon, she's suddenly say 'it's okay – everyone else was naked too', or 'good host', or 'they're friends', and start laughing all over again. Cat tried to sleep on her lap, and would give Kelly a dirty look every time she started laughing again.
Over the next few weeks, Susan continued to come over for visits, staying with us a few hours at a time. She would happily kiss and caress with any of us, but was also content to simply be with us; it was as though she were recharging some kind of internal battery. The first time she visited us, she gave me a strange look, and told me that her father had said he'd talked to me – and that he and her mother were both trying, very hard, to understand her, and what she had learned from me.
By the time Graduation day arrived, the entire school had heard that the problem between me and Jenkins had been about Kelly's speech as Valedictorian. There was considerable speculation about what it would be, and anticipation of what would happen when she was to give it. I was delighted when the Bishop let me know that a special seat had been saved for me, in the center of the first row behind the students, so that I would have a good view of Kelly as she gave her speech. He also gave me an invitation to meet with him afterwards – in the school administrators office. I willingly accepted both offers.
So it was that I had a ringside seat, so to speak, when Kelly gave The Speech, as it had come to be known.
True to his instructions, Jenkins didn't introduce her any differently than he did any of the other speakers; when the crowd quieted down (she'd gotten a standing ovation from the students), she spoke.
'Your Grace, members of the clergy, administrators, teachers, students, and honored guests, I welcome you to this graduation ceremony.
'It serves to mark the passing of this class into adulthood, and as a remembrance of the extraordinary efforts of our teachers, not just here, but throughout our academic lives, to educate us, to teach us, and to make us wiser.
'It is incumbent on us to remember their efforts, and respect them, as well as to honor those who instructed us.
'But it is also our duty to learn from what they have taught us – both in the classroom, as formal education, and in their attitudes, methods, and intentions. Part of that duty is to exercise caution in accepting all that they have taught us. Just as the world is not now what it was when they were students, it must also follow that they are not the same kind of teachers as the ones they learned from. Both the facts that they have taught us, and the environment that they taught us in, have changed.
'I have learned much from the teachers that I have had here – some have taught me the pleasures of good health, or of the purity of mathematics and science. Others, however, have taught me the incomprehensibility of 'interpreted' literature; or doctrine accepted as true, but without proof of their claims. Still others have shown me what the consequences are of having one's dreams and aspirations denied, and discarded as useless, or without merit. One, in particular, has shown me what it is like to be subjected to the arbitrary whims of an embittered, soul-less tyrant that has been put in control of eager young minds.
'To their credit, I have learned the most good from those who taught me for the love of the teaching; who taught me not for the money, but the expression on my face when I finally comprehended what they were showing me; who taught me so that I might KNOW their subjects, and get from those subjects the same joy as those who taught them. To those teachers, I say 'Thank you', with respect and admiration and gratitude. To the others, I say 'A pox on you, and your houses!' – what you do denigrates those who are obliged to share their profession with you. What you do is a harmful, hateful, wicked thing; to take a young mind, and mangle it for your own warped pleasure.
'I was taught a great many facts and figures and other bits of information; but precious little time was spent teaching me how to think – independently, on my own, to question and answer, to identify and solve real life
