Gonna Be Authentic to My Witness Relatives - Send Pictures - Hell With It

by flipper 22 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  flipper

  Just gonna bump this thread up as I'm working all night tonight, and won't be back till early AM Monday morning ! Any thoughts would be appreciated ! Thanks ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I have always sent postcards to relatives while vacationing. I have generally tried to
  give gifts to relatives occasionally and attend family functions when I can. I try to
  be a good member of the family and participate. It's not always easy with many of them
  not getting along with each other- some in varying circumstances or at great distances.
  The one exception is an Uncle and his family that have made themselves impossible to
  find and more impossible to have any relationship with. They are JW's.

  I have decided that reaching out to them is beyond any expectations. As a good JW,
  they didn't have anything to do with me, so who needs them? But as for any other
  JW family, (my mother being the only one here that fits the bill) I feel that I would
  overlook any of her JW cult personality flaws and treat her accordingly. In other words,
  I will send her (and her husband) postcards and give them gifts- even if she shuns me.
  We had a good relationship before JWism got in the way, and I would heap the coal
  upon her, hoping my kindness and not changing would cause her to stop shunning me.

  However, as I mentioned the uncle and family, if there is NO HOPE of a relationship,
  why bother? I don't believe there is NO HOPE in your situation. Sending photos is
  a great idea. It's neutral, it's proper reaching out. It's human. It reaches out to the
  non-cult personality.
• 

  flipper

  OTWO - I agree that it can be very difficult with family spread out all over. As big a state as California is ; running North to South for hundreds of miles , my family is spread all the way throughout the state. Even have one nephew and spouse living in Washington, up North. So I figured being authentic, sending pictures is just trying to be a good family member, and however they choose to respond to it is fine with me. I agree with you that the JW thing does get in the way of normal family relations , and in my opinion, turns normal people into robots , with little real emotion . I am becoming a lot closer with my sister who had the stroke a few months ago - and she was the one sibling that my older siblings considered unspiritual- go figure, she's the nicest of my brother and two sisters. The older ex-Bethel elder brother, and my older ex-Gilead sister have been the ones who diss me. Stands to reason. So we shall see what happens ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper