Born ins: did you have "near life experiences"?

by truthseeker 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  mentalclarity

  My mom was a single mom so I had alot of time on my own and I was allowed as a child to play with "worldly" kids so I was the kid who was at the neighbor's house or outside the whole time until dark. I can think of a couple of great moments with these families- I got to decorate the xmas tree when I was 10 years old with my neighbors. Had absolutely no guilt about this. I remember thinking as a kid how there was nothing wrong with this.

  I often went swimming at the Elks lodge with the kids (their dad would take us). I remember long hot summer days at the pool fondly.
  

  It's these glimpses of how non JWs lived that stuck with me throughout life and I could never believe the whole "all worldly people are shooting up drugs, immoral, dishonest" narrative that JWs preached and I knew that even as a non jw I could lead a pretty decent and normal life.
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  hoser

  When I was in grade 3 we had a Christmas gift exchange for our class. Of course I wasn’t allowed to participate. The teacher felt sorry for me and gave me a present a small box of chocolates wrapped in plain paper.
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  scratchme1010

  Re-reading this, I remember that the elders had this special meeting with me, my brother, and a few other kids our age (we were in our late teens/early 20s), a group of about 5 or 6. The called us and schedule a meeting to reprimand us for going to a place that had a pool table and played pool.

  The elder leading that conversation is one of the most dysfunctional people I've ever met. He hated other people having fun of any kind.
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  jwfacts

  For some unknown reason, in grade 10, so about 15, I was allowed to go to the end of school party, and then go out the rest of the night with school friends, going to kids houses and hanging out in parks. My friends were getting drunk, there was porn on a video player, some kids kissing. It was one of those teenage coming of age experiences. I was friends with a few of the people in my class, but not socially, and the other kids were used to hanging out. It was so strange, looking in on an amazing world that I so wanted to be part of, just for that brief moment.
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  zeb

  thank-you all for such touching accounts of child hood stolen.
  
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  My Name is of No Consequence

  I had too few "near life experiences" growing up. My dad would take my brother and I fishing. The trip to the fishing spot was more fun than the fishing itself, listening to my dad's "words of wisdom".

  Miss him.