Perhaps a better question for me would be 'what I wished I'd missed' as a jw youth?
Waking up every school morning dreading the obligatory homeroom flagsalute.
Hoping I never would run into a friend(aquiantance) from school during door to door preaching.
Having the Vice Principal of the school march down to the mid section of the auditorium and pull me out in front of the entire audience, for not standing when the 'national anthem' was played.
The year after year embarassment of having one of your parents come to school to explain away my non participation in holiday festivities, or some other jw tabu event or field trip.
The pure agony of not being able to go to a friends party when invited. Knowing I would miss the opportunity to see and be close to beautiful Kimmy........ who i desperately wanted to play 'spin the bottle' with....oh the shame.
Every vestiage of normal childhood development and experience, ruined by the guilt or fear of guilt, the ominous ever present mind game drilled into you..."Danny don't bring reproach on Jehovah and his organization"....."what would Jesus do?"
To feel no matter how hard I tried to be cool, I could never really be. I knew deep down I was special in the wierdest sense of word. Apart from everyone and everything......hating the fact that I wanted to be a good jw when around the 'brother's and sister's'....yet wanting to scheme everywhich way to avoid the consequences of being one.
The list by no means ends here.....jw/borg life infects every moment of ones life from cradel to grave. Scars from this henious religion heal but never fail to fester, no matter how many years you have been out.
Danny
