Before being married at the age of 25 and while attending BYU, I was a closet nudist who spent time hiking alone in the mountains just east of Provo. My favorite trip was to hike up to the Y and then take the trail that led past it up into the canyon (I think it's called Maple Flats?) I would then hike around the mountain just south of the Y and back down into town. When I got to the point where I figured the risk of meeting others was minimal, I would take off all my clothes and put them in my backpack.

From time to time I would cross paths with other hikers, mostly other guys but once a group of three giggly girls who walked past with mouths agape and eyes wide. Only once did I ever encounter another guy (about my age) who was also nude. It was always a refreshing, enlightening and wonderful experience. 

Looking back, I regret never having broached the topic with my wife before we were married. While we were dating it really never occurred to me to bring it up. Although it was a part of my life, it wasn’t yet a defining factor in who I was... it was more of a passing hobby: fishing, skiing, playing chess, reading a good book, hiking nude...

When we were engaged I was finishing up school, looking for a job and making wedding plans, and the subject of nudity just sort of shifted its way to the bottom of the priority list.

Even in the weeks, months, and first couple of years after being married, it still never came up. I hadn't been for a nude hike since before getting married, and whenever I subtly approached the topic with my wife she was so quick to dismiss the idea that I stayed away from it altogether.

Then kids came.

In the early days of our marriage, before kids, we would, of course, be in no hurry to ever get dressed, and we kept bathroom and bedroom doors open all of the time.

When our first child began to reach an age of awareness, however, my wife would often say, “Someday we will need to start closing the door when we shower and get dressed.” My response to this was always simply, “Why?” I never argued, never told her she was wrong, never pushed family nudism, I just said: “Why?” Each time she would look at me inquisitively and smile. The conversation never went further.

I knew I wanted to raise a family that didn’t feel a need to hide from each other and close doors (http://www.ldssdf.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15), but I also wasn’t sure how to approach the subject with my wife. So I took the lazy way out and just kind of avoided it. Other than the few times when my wife would say “We’ll need to start closing doors soon” and I would reply “Why?” the topic never came up.

About that same time, we met and became friends with a wonderful family at church who had seven children, ranging in age (at the time) from married with kids to twin girls, age five. (A good Mormon family!) The first time they invited us over, one of the five-year-old girls answered the door buck-naked! We were sure the parents would scold her at worst and laugh at best for committing such a social blunder, but to our surprise, they didn’t say a word, and as we came inside the other twin shortly appeared, also 100% naked.

We ate, visited, and played games into the evening. The girls stayed naked the entire time and nobody but us seemed to even think about it. At one point I overheard my wife and Susan, their mother, having a brief conversation in which Susan explained that ALL of their kids were raised running around naked and that they wanted to teach their children that there was nothing shameful, embarrassing, or naughty about their bodies. The dad piped in at one point and mentioned that it is not uncommon for them to ALL be casually naked when they were alone as a family, even the older teenage kids, and the parents.

My wife was blown away. I was thrilled. It was the first time either of us had ever come in contact with actual, real, living humans with such open and free views on nudity, and it was positively refreshing, clean, and wonderful.

When we met this family we had been married only about three or four years and our daughter was still learning to walk. They took us in and treated us like family, and seven years later we are still good friends.

This particular family chooses to keep their nudity confined to their own family, but, getting to know such warm, honest, good-hearted people with casual views on family nudity had a very softening effect on my wife's views, and she never again mentioned closing doors at home. Today she will walk naked in front of our kids, and we both shower and bathe with them without thinking twice about it.

She is slowly warming to the idea of being naked outside with others, and this summer we will be spending a week at a clothing-optional resort. She swears up and down that she will be clothed the entire week, but I have high hopes that a week of seeing people who have no shame over being naked will have a positive effect.

We’ll see. And I'll let you know!