Some of you might remember my story from years ago - how I became an 'apostate' which effectively ended my marriage of 20 years. How my wife subjected me to intense psychological abuse when I left 'the Truth'.
My son Ben, whom I love deeply, left when he was dragged into the back room and told he was being used by Satan to corrupt the congregation (he was only15) because he was gay.
My dearest middle daughter Charlotte, who has more common sense than all of us put together, 'left' on her 14th birthday. She was dragged out of the house in her bare feet to be taken to the meeting, and because I intervened I spent the next year on a camp bed in the front room.
In the end, I could not stand the abuse and left. I was being destroyed. But my children and I always kept in touch, every day. They understood why I had to do it.
Tonight, my beloved youngest daughter, Chloe (now 15), told her mother that she no longer wanted to be a Jehovah's Witness. I have been texting her, trying my best to support her. I am very proud that she has made this stand, along with her siblings. She has told me many times that she wanted to do this but has never had the courage.
I don't know what will happen with my ex wife, but she is apparently walking the streets now after saying she has no reason to carry on. In the end, even though she was so vicious to me, I still love her and feel so sorry for her. She really believes that all of her children will now die at Armageddon; her whole world has crashed around her ears because not one of her children has stayed 'in the truth'.
She has already had months off work with stress and has been sent to counseling by her employer. It is all so sad.