I cannot remember the exact date. But I remember the year - 1971 and the venue - although its name eludes me. But it was the District Convention/Assembly in Dunedin. New Zealand. I was 17.
I had hoped my JW grandparents and my JW uncles and aunts would observe my baptism and be proud of me. I remember how keenly disappointed I felt when I looked around for them and they were not present. Very few people understand how highly anxious and agitated I felt during the entire convention. In retrospect, I had longed to have a sense of belonging and purpose and when it dawned on me that my baptism was really a non-event to my JW extended family, I felt a deflation that I had seldom felt before or since.