WHAT I LOST
A highschool education: I was pulled out in 1973 after my sophomore year to go into the ministry because it was imperative that I pioneer and get the word out about 1975.
College education? You gotta be kidding.
Sense of self: Got married in 1975 at 18 yo into what turned out to be a "spiritually weak" family and I was shunned by my new congregation by former friends I had grown up with.
That "good JW man" I married developed alcoholism and followed in his late father's footsteps and became violent and abusive. I attempted suicide because divorce and homocide were not acceptable answers.
What I lost after leaving the bOrg and my lovely husband: My parents because I no longer intended on going back. I'd already lost my childhood friends with the congregation split.
WHAT I GAINED:
Education: A good education from STPU (Seat of The Pants University) along with a few college classes.
A career in computers.
Recovery from my own alcoholism.
Some (almost) life-long friendships with worldly people.
Found my birth family. (birth mom was killed in a car accident before I could know her as an adult)
Spirituality. Sense of self. Great love.
Any my Kevan.