Hello everyone...
Thanks for remembering "Frosty"! Well, the story goes like this....All three men admitted to the police that they were the ones to egg our home, my sisters car,(which was in our driveway) and vandalized "Frosty". One had the balls to come to our home the next evening and apologise. My husband talked with him in the entry, as I listened from the kitchen. Of course when asked if he would have come forward if he had not gotten caught..he said "probably not". When asked why he did it, he said, "We felt like you abandoned us". My husband said, "Are you even know WHY we left the organization?" He said, "no...why??" So my husband proceeded to share with him for the next two hours all our findings. The guy is mid 30s, admitted he was pretty irregular, and didn't know much about the Bible, or the teachings of the organization. Just went through the motions because that was what he was raised to do. My husband was nice but firm, and really made the guy think. He told us that somehow the elders found out about it and told them they had better call us and apologise. When asked if they had had too much to drink he said "no not at all".
He told us how the whole thing happened. The witness neighbors were having a small New Years Eve party. They guys were playing cards in the kitchen. One of the kids came downstairs to ask for help on their play station. So the dad (my neighbor) went upstairs to help the kids. Meanwhile we come into the conversation, and the builder dub says lets go egg their house! So they all three grabbed some eggs from the refer, and took off outside and down to the front of the house. When they came back in laughing my neighbor and the wives found out what they did..all thought it was pretty funny. I didn't though..as many of you may remember, I was barely awake we had been sick, and I heard popping noises and laughing. I could see them laughing at something at the front of my house. Although I didn't know what they did till morning.
So....
The next day, the second one..a well known local builder in our area, called my husband. He brushed it off and said it was just a joke. (Yea, but I was the one who had to try and clean frozen egg off my concrete and roof, as well as the concrete just sucked that egg into its pores, I could hardly get it out! My husband was still far too sick to take care of it. All in 3 degrees below zero!) He said it was done like a teenage "prank". My husband said, "your not a teenager! You are a 40 year old man!!! He acted as if it was no big deal. This was also someone who was years ago, best friends for sometime ,with my husband.
Then about 5 minutes after that call, the 3rd guy called. Basically said the same thing with the same attitude. He was also in his 40's. My husband asked all three of them if they would have come forward to apologise and admitt their involvement had they not gotten caught. All three either said no, or probably not!
Well, upon those answers, and the fact that the first guy admitted they were coming to apologise because the elders told them to, we decided to prosecute them. I do feel the 30 year old was truely sorry after my husband talked with him and the reasons we left. But still we felt, they knew full well what they were doing. They made the decision to come to our property and do what they did. So they should pay for the crime. If we would have let it go, surely they would have tried to do something later, for they would believe we were to fearful to turn them in. Or maybe it would be another family who leaves the borg. We did not want to set a pressident (spelling) for getting bullied!
So.. it went to court. Two of them had the same prosecuting attourney and were scheduled for court first. We went to court and sat their watching them have to go before the judge. Needless to say they wer quite suprised we showed up to see the whole process through to the end. We really wanted them to have to look us straight in the face. Turns out our rows where we sat were only a couple feet away from each other. The builder had his head down most of the time, he seemed truely embarressed, which he should. The other jerk, was really arrogant and looked us straight in the eyes with a cocky smerk on his face. His wife was their to support him and she was just as arrougant and kept trying to have eye contact with me to intimidate me. Didn't work though... We had our friends their to support us, and we didn't let them get under our skin. We just held our heads high and looked at them with disgust! Of course my witness neighbor was their to show his support for THEM! CREEP!!!
So here these two bozos show up in two piece suits and ties. They look like they are about to go to an assembly! It was funny because the judge had read my lengthy report, in which I told him they were JWs and that we left the Borg, and that we were being religiously persecuted because of leaving. I also explained how hypocritical it was that they attack our home, while ironically celebrating New Years at my neighbors house which according to the dubs is also a "sin"! I also told him how this same dub after being caught went to my dub grandmother and apologised to her, and said he did what he did because he saw "frosty" in our yard, twinkle lights on the two small trees on either side of our front door, and saw a wreath on the front door. He figured we must be celebrating Christmas. So with all that information, the judge asks one of the guys.."So.. you were at a New Years Eve party egh?" It was obvious he was trying to make the dub look like a hypocrite to all sitting there. Which he did! It was quiet for several seconds, and with his head down he answered, "yes."
They basically got off with little penalty. However, it taught them they cannot treat people who leave this way without reprocussions! One who actually broke frosty had to pay $60.00 to us, and had to do 16 hours of community service. (He was the real cocky one!!) The other had to pay a $100.00 fine (to the court) and has a misdemeanor for the incident. The third guy was sceduled another day for the judge, he was the guy who at least had the cawangers to face us in person, we never went to his day in court. We figured he would probably have a whole courtroom of witnesses to sit with him, expecting us to show up again. So we decided to dissappoint them all and not show up. Besides, out of all three of them I did feel he was sorry in the end.
But just like children who apologise because they got caught, they often still have to pay a price for their actions. And that is how we looked at it. The local paper did article on it, but conviently left out the fact that they were witnesses,( they did hint that they were though) didn't mention their names, and said I was a teacher..which I am not! I was dissappointed the paper wasn't more forth coming and honest. But then someone pointed it out to me that this builder has a huge ad in this same paper every week, and they probably didn't want to cut their throats by naming him as the perpetrator. However, on the newspaper online blogs, someone asked who they were and I told them. This sparked a angry reply from a JW reader.."Are you happy now?!!!!" They said. I ignored them. But FYI, "yes" we were!
As for frosty.. well, zip ties and some rework has made him as good as new. We took the $60.00 we recieved from one of those jerks and bought $60.00 worth of more Christmas lights. If they hated what we had last year...which was nothing really, wait till they see our home this year!!!! We bought more lights in honor of, & especially for them!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Lady Liberty
