I've decided my parents are way cool...........both of them are still in the Borg, but my father is turning 70 years old next month and he wants to celebrate his birthday! I was stunned when he said that and am already making plans. Plus (here's another shocker), my sister is also turning 40 next month and my mother said last night that we should take her out for her birthday seeing as she's turning the Big 4-0!!
While my parents have never been "strong in de Troof" , they still believe this is the Truth, probably because it'd be too hard to change this late in life. Not only that, but my father now buys the occassional lottery ticket thanks to my bad influence!
HA-ha!
He says: "...it's not gambling. It's a supplement to the pension I was never going to need."
I'm very lucky that my parents are not hard core Dubs. They'd never shun me, no matter what the Borg says---it's just not in their personality to be judgemental. Some other ex-Dubs who are life long friends of mine all celebrate Christmas, birthdays, one of them smokes, another one is "living in sin" with someone. While my friends are all treated like garbage from the local congregation, my parents have never treated them any differently than before, which means alot to me. Here's another example of my parent's character: when my mother needed a ride to Toronto a few weeks ago, who did she call to take her? Not anyone from the Hall, but one of my evil 'postate friends.
I know that most ex-Dubs are not as fortunate as I am to have JW parents that actually put their family first before the Borg, and we hear so many horror stories of how the shunning tears families apart, that I just wanted to share something positive with you guys, as it made me feel really good.