I've done a lot of lurking and have put in my two cents a few times on this board, but just realized I've never introduced myself here.
I'm one of five who was raised as JWs. My mom began studying not too long after she married; dad was totally against it. Coming from a divided household, we were treated as an nonentity in the congregation. One of my earliest memories is having the PO threaten me that I would die at Armageddon if I didn't pay attention during the meetings. I was six years old and for years afterwards was terrified of thunder storms (remember that pic in the Paradise book?) When I graduated from high school, I went to work. The PO was after me to full time pioneer, but I told him my parents couldn't support me forever. I was one of the first sisters in the hall to go to work and they did not like it. A few years later I got married...he was studying at the time and was baptized a few months after we married. He was given a position helping out at the literature counter and was practically ignored after that. He couldn't understand why and couldn't understand why my family was treated so badly. As years went on, he and I had some problems, and requested a visit from the elders. They ignored us. We asked again, and were ignored. One day around the holidays an elder came knocking. He came in, looked around, then asked me if he could talk to me in the living room. We went into the room, he looked around, then left. Total visit:three minutes. It dawned on me he was looking for Christmas stuff (which we didn't have ) For me, that was the last straw, and we just stopped going. Eventually we split up I moved back in with my parents. The elders visited me just after I moved in and told me I could not divorce him, even though he had just been DF for apostacy. I told them he was divorcing me and I was not going to contest it. (I knew he had committed adultery but never told the committee...that was between me and God) I also told them that I was not going to live in my parents house and yet be married to someone...that was completely unacceptable to me. They left, and never bothered with me again. That was more than twenty years ago.
Out of the five of us, only one still attends meetings. One was DF, then reinstated, but does not go. The other three of us faded over the years. My mom, bless her heart, doesn't do shunning (neither does the one that still goes). She is elderly and doesn't get around much anymore, yet those at the hall never call on her; they just don't bother. It's sad...and Mom has been a JW for more than fifty years. She tried to get me to go back, but I told her I couldn't stand to sit there and take instructions from people that I have no respect for and I didn't need them between me and God.
Today, I am married to a wonderful guy and will never never never be a part of any organized religion.