by Undecided 6 Replies latest jw friends
I've been having a lot of old memories from my past. I can't seem to see ahead at all. It makes me sad to think about my mom and dad and all the old JWs that I knew from way back. Almost all of them are dead now. Here is a picture about 2 blocks from where I live now and we used to meet in that store. It is still there. Gas was 23 cents a gallon. The Theocratic Ministry School was started when we were meeting there. It was a little room on the far side of the building.
Ken P.
tell me some of your memories. When did your parents become JWs? How long were they in? Were they colporteurs? My grandfather was a JW back in the early part of the 20th century. He and his family, and one other family, were all the Bible Students in that part of Wyoming. I don't know how it was that he came to be a Bible Student, but he and his wife were there entire lives. My mother was a JW her entire life; she passed away in 2001. I think about her often, miss her even though I couldn't take the religion, still you always have an attachment to your mother. Did your parents tell you any stories about the persecution in the 20s and 30s? I think that's when they had a lot of persecution in the US and Canada.
I think you have posted thoughts like this before. Seventy two doesn't seem that old to me, but I wonder if you feel you don't have any future? why wouldn't you live another twenty years? wish I could say something encouraging for you.
My grandpa is nearing 90, and he's healthier than his wife who is nearer to your age. He still walks everyday and travels to his WWII reunions every year. Whenever I am able to speak to him I ask for his memories also, so that I can pass down his life stories.
Share some with us. I'd love to hear your life stories too. Have you thought of writing down some memories for your family to pass down through the generations?
momz
Hi Ken I enjoyed your picture it brought back memories to me. This is the time period that I started being a JW. We met in an old Oddfellows hall in the early fifties. And we use to do placard work every Saturday morning advertising the puplic talk for Sunday. I hated this street work as we were teased at school, but we were forced to do it. Seventy-two is still young today. I am closing in on your age. and have seen a lot over the forty years I was a dub. I was an elder for years during the seventies and was DF"d in 1980 because I could no longer believe the things taught. Thanks for the picture.
Woody
when I was a little kid, we attended the meetings in an old storefront with an apartment upstairs. One of the most exciting meetings was when the bathtub upstairs overflowed during a meeting - the ceiling fell down. No one was hurt, but everyone was really upset. It was while we still attended there that they started allowing women to give "talks" in the KM school - really just little phony dramas acted out by the women and girls.
There were many very old JWs in the cong - all of whom have passed on a long time ago. The Gilberts, the Picards, the Ellises, can't remember the names of all of them.
My Grandmother was of the anointed and drank the wine and bread. I don't really know when she started being a JW. My parents were JWs as long as I can remember. There were a couple that were colporteurs who stayed in my grandmothers yard for a while when I was about 6 or 7. I remember those plackards well and the street work. I used the phonographs in the house to house work, or rather my dad did and I went with him to the doors. I was too little to carry the phonograph then.
They just started allowing vacinations when I started to school. The congregations were called companys back then. My dad had the principal of the school to come to our home to explain why we didn't salute the flag or say the pledge of alligence. So many memories.
Ken P.
Ken, it's rainy and dreary here today, so in my mild depression, I called my JW mother. The only thing she has to talk about is the KH, so I got to hear all the news about all of the old crowd I grew up with. So many have died. I'm always saddened that she never calls me to tell me about any of the funerals. Just because I left the WTBTS doesn't mean I don't love the people I grew up with. Many of the people in my congregation were like surrogate parents to me. For some reason, the JWs seem to think that rejecting their religion is rejecting them, and that's not the case for me at all.
We used to have the bookstudy at a farmer's home. He had an old movie projector and after the bookstudy was over, we'd watch old silent movies, mostly the Keystone Cops. He also had a pond and we'd change into our bathing suits after the meeting and hop in the water. Sometimes his sons would take us riding across the corn fields on their dirt bikes. This farmer died recently and my mother didn't tell me for weeks. I was broken hearted to miss his funeral. I really loved him and would have liked to have had the chance to express my sympathies and my love for him to his widow and children.
Despite being raised a JW and the craziness that implies, I have some wonderful memories of my childhood that are directly linked to various members of our congregation.
