My husband is occasionally called away for a few weeks, and this last time I was determined to get through it by means of daily morning and evening self-satisfaction. But by the end of the first week I’d reached my limit. Be-fore I left work Friday afternoon, I called Kermit, a guy I’ve been seeing off and on for about nine years.

It’s nothing romantic, and I don’t enjoy the secrecy he insists on. (He says he’d die of shame if his adult married children — he’s 15 years older than me — living in the area find out he’s involved with a married woman.) But one thing I can say is that he has never left me unsatisfied, which is no small thing, size pun intended.

When I called, Kermit told me to go have a drink and he’d call me to tell me what room he’d checked into at our usual motel. I was finishing my... Read More