Vernon Jordan is a very close friend of William Jefferson Clinton, former President of the United States. In America, mostly due to media interest in President Clinton's personal life during his Administration, the average American knows what Jordan looks like but little else. Vernon Jordan -- until the publication of this book, anyway -- is not well known. Not at all.
C-SPAN carried an interview following the recent publication of his autobiography "Vernon Jordan Can Read -- A Memoir." The interviewer's last question was: "To whom do you attribute your success?" I like Mr. Jordan's answer.
He spoke of all the people, starting with his parents who challenged (and then helped guide) him to reach his full potential, and all the others who help him build his successful and happy life -- the kindergarten, grade school and all the other teachers; the advisors at the local YMCA where he grew up. In all, he named about thirty people. His answer reinforced what I have come to know thru experience: it takes many kinds of people, each with their own talents and tools, to build a house. In a very similar way, it takes the help of many others if we are to make the most of the time we have of building a better life for ourselves... and the more help we get, the better.
Ex-JWs, particularly those like me who were cursed to have spent their formative years in The Truth(tm), missed out on much of the help that we could've gotten in the building of *our* house. Yes, we can start today to make up for some of the lost time, but as with the literal construction of a house, if the bricklayers, the concrete contractor, the electricians and plumbers, the framers and sheet-rockers have come and gone... the house we end up with isn't likely to be as sturdy as what might have been had we been able to take advantage of their expertise... especially if we're now having to do all this stuff ourselves.
As adults we can "make do," of course, and many of us *are* doing well -- considering the circumstances. Still, I can't help but wonder if part of the dysfunction that seems to exist in the ex-JW community (and far too-often seen on open forums like this one) can be laid on the fact that we didn't get the help we needed in building a better 'house' long time ago. The way I see it, there's really no way around at least WONDERING.