It was the summer of '72. I was 24 but had been the presiding overseer or Congregation Servant of a small congregation in the county seat of an Arkansas county for about 3 years.
My Regular Pioneer wife of nearly four years was big and pregnant, with our attempts at birth control unsuccessful.
One of my wife's several Bible studies was with a young woman named Brenda whom my wife had encountered in door to door work.
Brenda had two young children she could barely handle and was married to a very countryfied Arkie named Henry who worked as a chicken catcher, one of the most difficult jobs at the local chicken plant.
Brenda eventually revealed that she'd been raised as a JW, but was never baptized, having left home to marry Henry at age 14. She spoke of her family in Texas, mentioning her mother and two older sisters, all JWs she said.
One morning, just before the meeting for field service, we noticed a small car in Kingdom Hall parking lot. My wife and I were parked to one side of the hall in our aluminum Nashua house trailer.
Two young women got out of the car and soon joined us for the meeting for service, identifying themselves as Brenda's sisters from Texas.
The two girls, ages 17 and 20, were distractingly beautiful, with the eldest decked out like a magnificent southern belle including hat and heels, her high-end clothing accentuating her very obvious curves.
With no one else showing up for field service, it ended up just the four of us in the car group with the two Texas girls in the back seat.
Starting our time at a not-at-home, the 20 year old asked if she could accompany me to "hear my presentation." I obliged.
At that first door, we were invited in and the Texas girl sat directly next to me on the sofa, a little too close for comfort.
As I went into my presentation, my sofa companion nodded at my every word and followed the scriptures in her own Bible, smiling approvingly when the householder responded to my questions.
To politely end the discussion, the householder said she was very busy and then, turning to the Texas girl, she said: "I'm sure, as a minister's wife, you would understand."
Neither the Texas girl nor I corrected the householder's impression that we were a married couple. I remember thinking that, if this was not my wife, how could I explain how closely we were joined on the sofa. That would have been more difficult than simply allowing the misconception to stand.
Honestly, I was incredibly turned on by this extraordinarily beautiful young woman sitting so tightly next to me, not to mention, playing the role of my wife so naturally despite my pregnant wife outside in the car.
Later that night at the Kingdom Hall meeting, the girl put on quite a show, commenting intelligently while seemingly intent on my every word.
After the meeting, I was approached by a teenage sister who had something to say.
Naming the older of the two Texas girls, she said: "She came here for you."
When I laughed that off, saying I was married and about to be a father, she doubled down: "Even so, she came here to get you."
Although I didn't take advantage of whatever opportunity had been presented, Brenda's husband Henry sought me out about two weeks later. He had no interest in being a JW and we'd seldom said anything to each other beyond "hello."
With his wife Brenda trying to stop him, Henry told me how his sister-in-law and one of the "JW ministers" were "kissing like crazy" and then went into her bedroom while he and Brenda were visiting the family.
"I don't know what they did in there for over half an hour, but they came out of the room totally red-faced," explained Henry, chuckling.
I think he wanted me to know that I'd dodged a bullet or maybe just wanted a big laugh at JWs.
I've thought and even fantasized about this potential incident from over 50 years ago. It came to mind just last night and I remembered I'd never shared it on JWD.
