I've been registered at JWN for 1 year! I've made so much progress since I first started coming here. I was an inactive JW who was just trying to move on from what I considered a benign but demanding religion. For the past several years I had been mentally a JW, feeling very guilty about not living up to my dedication . My heart raced the first several times I came here. The thought that I was at an apostate site was so scary. I eventually got over my fear, and I'm glad I did because I would not be in the position I'm in today.
Special shout out to OntheWayout, it was his meetup group that was the first "apostate gathering" I went to where I met great, smart, helpful people.
I'll always be grateful to Blondie, whose WT commentary on the 11/15/2009 'Treasure your place in the congregation' article prompted me to read the WT for the first time in years, which made me realize immediately that the WT is indeed a cult.
I've since been able to share various nuggets of info with my sister, who recently proclaimed to me that through her "independent research" in various Bible translations that the JWs are a cult. My sister, my nephew, and I are moving forward in life without the WT organization. I'm trying to become "normal" (whatever that really means) and the people on this site have been instrumental in helping me reach that goal.
Anyway, I just wanted to say something on my anniversary. I'm feeling very sentimental.