My strange Bethel courtship started with me trying to meet Mike Stillman's sister, Even though he worked in the ink room next to my elevavator, we were not good friends, he was just a little to "country" for me........and on the righeous side too. They say "there is nothing more dangerious in combat then a new guy with a map!".........and there was nothing more dangerious at Bethel then a self righteous new boy.
Anyway one beautiful Saturday morning, in 1972, we were walking to the factory, Mike happen to be walking with me, and he happen to say "God........I would give anything to get out of this city on a day like today"..........I said "Well....... I have a car and no place to go.........You have a place to go and NO car"...He wasn't quite sure of me, but.............next thing I knew, It's him and me and 4 of his nerdy friends driving to Rhode Island.
Needless to say, it was a great weekend and Debbie who had just turned 19 was happy that her brother finally brought someone home with him, who wasn't a nerd like his other friends.
She lived there with her mother, Elaine and step father, Ben. They had just moved to Rhode Island from Louisana, (one of the reasons was, they wouldn't make Ben an elder) and to "help" the local brothers out. At the time R.I had the worst ratio of JWs to normal people in the USA. He was a real winner..........Looked and acted like "Gomer Pyle".......only dumber. He would walk around and say things like "your fat,....... I'm fat.....were all fat" or "I know one thing about debbie.....she is tired" He would say that about 30 times a day ..........and pat everyone's head.......I'm not sure what all that meant?.........Of course a year later, they had made this mental gaint an elder.........I'll never forget the day he gets this phone call (I'm sitting in the room with him) from some sister, it his hall, who was crying her eyes out (becauuse her husband had just beat the shit out of her) and he said to her........ "Well........you must have done something REALLY wrong for him to get so mad............Just have another beer and forget the WHOLE THING!"...............I just sat there, I couldn't believe it........This guy couldn't pour sand out of boot if the directions were written on the heel.........Leading the flock of God.
Her mother Elaine, another winner..............Major Hypochondriac......I think she was allergic to air. Naturally she was the one who brought the JW teachings into the family........Debbie who loved her real father, would get her face slapped anytime she brought his name was up. He left her mother back in the 50's and married another women.......he was of course DFed.
After we got married in 1974..........We got some "New Light......the light got brighter" and the society said, you could NOW have limited contact with disfellowshipped ones..........
By the way the term "the light gets brighter" really means we were wrong about something......so we are changing our option about it.......for the whole religion thing to work.......It HAS to be impossible for the society or any church to be wrong, and the reason for that is...... IF it is wrong about ONE thing, it COULD be wrong about something else, RIGHT?..........So where, would you draw the line? So the "light gets brighter" stuff works really well...................Oh by the way,..... I do the same thing now.......If I hurt someone or if I'm wrong about something.............I NEVER say "I"M SORRY"........I say "OPPPss.......light got brighter!".......but people think, I'm strange when I say that.......I wonder why?
Anyway we decided to drive to Califorina to see her real Dad........She hadn't seen him in about 10 years............Both her and her brother wrote him a letter, when they were kids, saying they had NO desire to see he ever again, that was their mother's idea.......sweet women that she is. So Debbie was so excited to see her Dad who she loved so much..........and what a sweet person he was.......I say WAS, because a few years later after "the LIGHT got brighter once again"............the society said we are going back to the "old way"(or old light} of dealing with DFed ones.................. by shunning them.....So one day in the 1980's Bob call us and wanted to come up for a visit, to see us and his grand kids (my children)..........I said "come on up Bob, we would love to see you!"..........Debbie grabed the phone out of my hand and tolded him "he wasn't welcome NOW and that he couldn't come anymore for visits".......................A few years later one morning, we got the phone call.........he BLEW his brains out with a 38 speical..........Ah the love.
That "new light" is funny stuff............sometimes its bright then DARK...........then bright again, but one thing it NEVER is.............wrong..RIGHT?
So now you know about my two wonderful future inlaws.......Next up,...... the year and a half hell, dealing with them, up to our wedding.