Yep, it's been five years since I joined JWD. And still only a senior member. That would be because I generally only post when I have something to say.
I was on H2O many moons ago (also as Jankyn), and I used to lurk on WitNet (which I found hilarious, particularly the way that Lisa--LDH--would mess with JW heads). I first found online support for former Witnesses in 1997--both Freeminds and H2O, by using Yahoo's search function.
I haven't attended a meeting since 1980. I quit considering myself a Witness in 1976, but did a fade (never baptized, so fading has been a bit easier for me than for some). Still, even after all those years and a full life, there were still parts of my personality that no one else seemed to "get." I've come to understand it as the general weirdness that those of us raised in "the Truth" acquire from Day One and then spend the rest of our lives discarding.
I come here because:
(1) I find people who have had the same or similar experiences, and so my sense of being different and isolated is lessened,
(2) I get support (and having come from a seriously JW background, with a mother and other relatives still in, I need it),
(3) I get information (the heads-up on next September's WT on "When a Loved One Leaves Jehovah" will save me a lot of grief. If I know what Mom's going to read, I can be prepared to deal with the fallout and not take it personally),
(4) I get to offer support. Sometimes real relief seems to come from comforting someone else who's feeling the confusion and pain of being rejected by JW family members.
Thanks to all who've made my life better these last five years.
Jankyn