I'm sick with envy when I see how some managed to escape from the Org with their siblings - I hope you know how lucky you are? Mine are all still in. Now 20 yrs later I'm having very minimal contact (still) - but the snippets I do get help me to see that our family humor is apparent in them too. I doubt whether they notice it, but I feel like my senses are magnified whenever I get a rare moment with them. Anyway, I'm not laying a guilt trip on you - it's just the way the chips fall. I feel sorryest for those whose kids stay in when the parents leave - that must be dreadful. My husband left with me when our kids were little, so my immediate family is intact. :-) Sorry to rant on. Anyway, what was the question? Oh yeah, well I didn't do any prestudy - and my husband who was the brainy type used to mark his wt in less than 5 mins. I rarely read the magazines as they failed to hold my interest. So I saved 7.5 hours per week on you Pat. Even so, witnessing and meetings are strategically placed to interfer with your entire week. It's not like you have a lot of energy left for other things when you aren't required to be seen.
Btw I loved your post on evolution recently. Very thought provoking.
Hi Marilyn, I am so pleased to make your acquaintance! Thanks for the brief bio on yourself. It is quite wonderful that my sister and I both left and I'm sorry you can't enjoy that.
My sister left a year before me and didn't say much about it. I left for a different reason this year. We live in different states and didn't talk but about every couple of weeks. It's really quite an amazing coincidence.
However, I do have two grown sons and two grandkids in. So, I really feel the rift from that. One is very rigid in JW thinking (MS and pioneer) and it's awkward. The other is more liberal, although I don't dare talk too much.
Glad you enjoyed the evolution one. It's my favorite topic these days!
Everyone has about covered all the various ways that tied-up our time so extensively. I have only one additional 'time-taker.' Somehow, I generally was assigned a newer convert when making a TMS presentation.
More often than not, these sisters were nervous and insecure, necessitating two or three 'get togethers' for practice. We lived in the country, and I usually was the one who drove the 30-miles roundtrip into town; had to 'set a good example' ya know.
Would rather have had the time to retreat to my room and read a good book!
I was going to ask why an active elder would be hanging with our ilk, but i deleted it somehow. Just as well, because as you pointed out, he is probably on his way out.