My mom has been a JW since 1970. My dad, who died in 1994, became a dub in 1971. I have told parts of that story elsewhere on the board.
My mom remarried a couple of years later to a non-JW. My stepfather and I get along very well, despite his background (cussin', former Hell's Angel, former Navy Seal, smoker)...generally quite rough..but underneath a decent guy.
I just called down to my mom's today...about 11am... stepdad answers.... where is my mom? He says: "Out doing her thing..." I say: "Oh, you mean door knocking?" He says: "Yeah." I ask him how much she does that....he tells me 4 or 5 hours a day...4 or 5 days a week. Understand...she is not pioneering in any form whatsoever.... yet, she prefers to spend her retirement time driving around rural Alabama to spending it with her husband? Wasting time and gas...and right now, they don't have the money to waste... unlike when he had a good job and worked lots of OT... he is retired, pension and disability....she gets a small social security payment (because, foolishly, she took it at 62 instead of waiting).... and they have two mortgages to pay because the market tanks in South Florida....to the point my stepdad no longer has any equity in the house.... and they cant sell it.....
so my mom is burning up gas, wear and tear on the car, etc...in field circus.... my step dad resents it...he just says he does whatever he wants.... he knew she was a JW when they met...but I dont think he realized the implications of a JW with lots of free time on their hands combined with nothing else to do and a weird zeal for it....
.... so that is what my JW mom is doing with her time. I called her a week ago...... because she rarely calls me..... and I let her know my fiancee wants to talk to her soon...my fiancee is nervous about meeting my mom because of the whole JW thing...she is afraid my mom is going to blame her for turning her son (me) away from the witnesses.....
...and to be honest, despite my mom saying its not true.... I wonder. And she has yet to call and talk to my fiancee (other than saying hello over the speakerphone when I am talking)..... My mom and step dad have not met my fiancee....
I guess ....with all my rambling... I resent, as does my step dad.... my mom wasting so much time in door knocking and not enough time working on family relationships. She goes and sees my non JW brother (who lives 4 hours away)...and talks to my other non JW brother on the phone more .... but my step dad says she doesnt hold it against them for not being JWs because they were never baptized and I was....
....so she doesnt like me living with a girl without being married....and everything that entails.... she has said it would be an untenable situation if she still lived near me... but living 12 hours away...she can bury her head in the sand.
.....sigh...... I am just venting..... thanks for reading.... my dear fiancee should be home shortly....maybe we have an hour alone before getting the 8YO from school...
Snakes (Rich )