I have been reading the forum the past couple of days, actually I am finding it hard to pull myself away. I stumbled upon it by accident - searching some thing lead to another and another and here I am.
3rd generation ex-JW here. Got out fairly young. What a wild ride it has been these past 50 years of my life. My younger brother, also an ex, told me about this site a couple of years ago but I wasn't interested. I try to put all things JW behind me. Out of sight, out of mind. But, not him. Anyway, he past away this past May, murdered in his own home, just a couple of days shy of one month since our oldest brother died after a 5 year cancer battle.
Going through his home, after his death, I stumbled upon writings of his, some he had shared with me over the years and some not. It's hard to go through someone else's private things, felt like such an intrusion.... but, I digress. I found a tale of child molestation that had occurred to him at the age of say 5-10 years old. He left no clues as to who it was because he wasn't sure himself. It happened on an overnight camping trip that my mom had allowed him to go on with some "relatives" , from his memories. But since all JWs are brothers and sisters, it may have created some confusion in his young mind. The people he discribed are not immediate family. Since we were so sheltered, I KNOW FOR A FACT that it HAD to have been a JW family that took him, and the father molested him. This happened about 30-35 years ago. I have questioned my elderly mother extensively and she can not remember the trip she allowed him to go on. And for her protection, I have not shared with her the reasons for my asking.
So, mark this down as one more destroyed life. Mark this down as one more person so guilt ridden and confused over all things in his life that, while he was one of the finest people I have ever met, lived his short life with the pain of the religion, the pain of molestation, the pain of guilt acted out through dangerous mind altering chemicals, dangerous life style choices, confusion in his sexuality and a lot of bitterness which ultimately lead to his death by unknown person(s).
I am not sure how to search the site yet as I just logged on but I am hoping to search for his posts here to gain more insight into his life. We were close, but apparently not close enough for him to share this part of this life with me. I am not sure of his alias here - I will try and guess - but if anyone remembers him, please share with me so I can go one with my journey of finding out about his pain and life.
Some things he was obessed with that may lead some of you to remember him:
Our brother with cancer - 5 years fighting colon cancer
Blood transfusions.
He was asked to give a kidney to our brother - which was beyond belief to him considering the stance on transfusions, his concern of risking his own life for someone that may die in an operation of this magnitude performed without blood.
His name is Lee and was from Colorado.
Thanks for any help and I have a feeling I may stick around a while. I have already gained a lot of insight into myself, reading here. And maybe some things I have learned that I can share to help others.
Gringa (no spell check here!!!!? The horrors!)
