I was stupified that I was not shunned, as has been my treatment most of the time for the past 3 years.
I walked into the coffee-shop on my way home. It was cold and I wanted a warm brew to keep me company. As I approached the counter to order, a strangely familiar fellow was right in front of me. He turned and sure enough it was Dale, my old friend of nearly 40 years. This guy 'studied' with my family when I was 4 or 5 years old, about the time my Mom got dipped as a Jw. That would have been 1960. I was the only one in my immediate family to actually 'take to the truth', including my baptized mother, and Dale and I, in spite of our age difference [he must be right at 20 years my senior], became hard and fast friends. He was my best man in my wedding in fact, and we spent tons of time together over the next 4 decades.
When I left, he contacted me once to invite me to the memorial, and other than that I have corresponded with him a couple times by letter. His last one to me was a 'farewell - to bad you will be dying soon in Armageddon' letter, sincere but misguided. I suspected that would be the last of our time together.
Then this; I fully expected him to 'shun' me, walk away and look embarrassed by it [ since he knows my no-shunning policies ] . But instead, he stood there and we talked for 20 minutes about his wife's health, his job, mine, the Grandmunchkins, Wifey, the weather. I finished my coffee and he his frozen custard [ why he ordered that on such a frigid cold day I don't know ] while we spoke. I considered reaching out and shaking his hand and offering a heartfelt 'thank you' for his having shown respect and dignity that most witnesses do not know. I didn't do that - but it felt good to know that perhaps of these 120 people whom I had shared my life, at least one was willing to show love outside of condition, at least as long as I did not 'press it'.
Anyway - the whole thing left me in a peaceful frame of mind. Funny coincidence; I had just two hours previous sat down to write him a letter, but elected to erase it, assuming that it would become kindling for the fireplace anyway. Just coincidence ? I am not sure.
Jeff