Since I've been pretty much out of touch, for the last three months, I thought it time for an update. I would like to thank those that kept in touch via email and Y!M. You know who you are, and you certainly made some difficult times more bearable. Thank you .
Saturday 31st August I attended the wedding of my bestman. He was DF'ed about 7 years ago, which was pretty unbearable, but I was a "true believer", so I shunned him. Last year I got in contact again, which was a bit of an emotional moment, to say the least. Since then it's been as if the years between were fleeting moments, and it hasn't taken us long to catch up.
The wedding went well, and the cortege was escorted by a couple of Honda Goldwing's, which we'd always loved. And pretty much everything went to plan.
The evening was capped off by a visit from an old schoolfriend, who I hadn't seen in over a dozen years, but whom I'd become reacquainted with through FriendsReunited.
He had been one of my few friends, as I survived school through a JW myopia , and had even studied with me for a few short weeks. Fortunately that didn't spoil the friendship, and we continued to keep in touch until a year or two before I got married, in 1993.
Sunday 1st September I travelled North to Manchester, to visit the Apostate posse of the North of England. Simon, Ang., ISP, Latte, Fe2O3Girl, Sirona, and a few others that didn't really post.
It was during this lunch that I came to realise that Smurves have tails!
I had never noticed before, but the Smurf that Simon had brought, to help identify our table, had a blue tail peeking out of his trousers!
Ah well, small things amuse small minds.
That week my wife and I flew out to Fuerte Ventura, which is an island in a volcanic group known as the Canary Islands (from whence comes the name for the birds), off the North West coast of Africa.
The holiday went well, with a bit of Scuba, siteseeing, karioke, dancing, etc.
The island has a good climate, with plenty to see, and plenty of watersports.
On the North East of the Island, facing Africa, are about 3 miles of sand dunes. Of course we had to pay a visit and, whilst strolling along, it gradually dawned on us that people were wearing less and less. Yup, we'd strolled into the naturalist section , and looked fairly out of place in shorts and T-shirts.
Well, having never been a prude, I thought "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"...
Driving on the wrong side of the road was interesting (tongue firmly in cheek ), as it's been a few years since I did that, and the roads themselves were incredible. Whilst in great condition, they winded around mountains on routes that only goats would take.
Oh, and we got to swim and sunbathe on the beach where the Cadbury's Bounty advert was shot.
The weekend of the 15th I found myself in Wales, at the CefnLea Christian resort.
The guest speaker was Bill Bowen, so we were treated to a weekend of SilentLambs issues, culminating in his appearing at London Bethel on the Monday.
I had the pleasure of sharing a trailer with Bill and another resident (Hi, Dave, if you're lurking), and found them great company.
During the course of the weekend there were various testimonies given, as to how we had left the JW's, so the whole thing had a distinct ex-JW flavour.
The weekend of the 29th found me in Bedford, near Luton (just North of London), visiting da_luvving_bruvver and da_luvvin_sister, who were getting baptised at a local Baptist church. It was a memorable occasion, as over a dozen ex-JW's decended on the place, and there was a really good spirit there.
That weekend also had me attending a faith-healing conference, where a friend of mine was healed of a long standing neck complaint (spondilitus). I went with an open mind, not really knowing whether or not to believe in it all, but have to testify to the change in his life.
Somehow I managed to get home, in between most of these events.
It was an eventfull month, with plenty of highs, and a few corresponding lows. I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth, though, and the less said about those, the better.
I need a break, so I'll continue onto October later in this thread...