We hear so many stories on this board, some of them sad. Others are stories that we can celebrate as part of our freedom from the cult that most of us here share in common. I hope this part of my story gives someone else hope that there is life after the Borg. At the very least, I hope it is worth the read.
...I won't get into personal details here. I did want to give a bit of an update to my thread Must be something about laundromats.
There was a second date. It went very well. Again the time flew by and ended all too soon. We will be getting together either today or Memorial Day.... all depends on availabiltiy of sitters. A nice quiet date just the two of us if she finds a sitter..... or I will get introduced to her 8 year old son and the three of us will spend the Monday BBQing or going to the zoo if the rain stays away.
She and I are enjoying our time together. We have talked about a lot of personal things in our lives, because of course we have talked about all of the mundane things as she takes my order at the cafe....over the last three years! We are both a bit surprised at how quickly we became comfortable sharing with each other. Both of us have been hurt in prior relationships and trust is a valuable commodity that is not easily given out. Trust is huge for both of us.
She is marginally Catholic, she knows I used to be a JW. She is OK with me not being of any religion, just as I am OK with her religious choices ....as long as she doesnt become a JW....LOL. Neither of us is too interested in religion at all to be honest (well, y'all can read my prior posts to know what I really think of religion). So we got that discussion out of the way on the first date. I didn't bring it up, it just came up in a matter of conversation of backgrounds.
We have a lot of common interests and since we are close in age and grew up in the same town, we can talk about things that have happened locally and know what the heck we are talking about. She had been married, divorced several years...smart gal....studying to be a paralegal...even drew up her own papers (shudder)... 23 year old daughter soon to be off to university on the east coast..which will just leave her and her 8 year old son here. My friend is going to enroll at the community college where I am finishing my last semester and finish her degree. Shouldn't take her long. Neither of us wants to stay in this town much longer.... we both want to find out what is out there beyond this place.
So....while it is entirely too early to tell what will happen with us long term, we both are hopeful....almost afraid to hope for too much. I know that both of us are scared to death that even saying anything like that too loud will jinx us. We are enjoying the moment, looking forward to the next time we talk (in the evenings for a bit) or the next time we get together. For me, I am just glad I am no longer worried about what "other people" (i.e. the dubs) might say.
Which leads me to the first part of the topic subject: "the fade will probably end soon."
We are not hiding our dating relationship from anyone. Yes, since it is early, she has only told coworkers she is "dating a customer" {lol}....and they are rooting for her....her dating history is pretty sparse......and she is a genuinely nice person and well liked at her job. And since I really don't have many people locally to share with beyond a couple of non JWs I have become friends with....... what do I do but post it on an internet forum...LOL
My friend knows enough about the JW religion to know that for a current or former JW, there are "consequences" to dating a non-JW and what is otherwise normal dating behavior. When she comes to my house, she parks in my driveway in clear view of the street. There are dubs that pass this way regularly. Her car in my driveway is going to send up red flags.... and the sooner the better I say. If any of the JW elders come putting their nose in my business they will get an appropriate but unwavering reply from me.
I am done caring about Borg rules...WHY? because... my JW mom assured me just the other day she will not shun me if I am DF...that is all that matters to me, that my mom still loves me unconditionally ....(though I don't think my mom is quite comfortable with what will likely be me being inevitably DF'd).
Who knew that a random encounter at the laundromat would lead to knowing such a great gal?
We have an interesting journey ahead. The journey is where life is lived. It is time to live.
Snakes ()