Somewhere along 1992, 1993, 1994-- somewhere in there-- I was going through some personal shit.
What I thought would be my one-and-only marriage was pretty much coming to its end and, because of tales my first wife had put in the wind (to cover her own tail/tale), rumors were swirling all around me. I've never felt as lost as I felt at that point in my life. Luckily, I found my bearings. And didn't end it all.
It was an early Saturday (or was it Sunday?) morning. The assembly center was just coming to life. As had been my custom since my youth, I got there early. And to my astonishment, I found Betty Johnson...
Betty was not and never will be anything like your average JW. Simply put: she was smart. She had a brain, a brain constructed well outside and before being introduced to the JW milieu. Very much like her brother John, who lives in Dallas. Great, great people.
I quite bluntly (and on purpose... to get a rise) asked Betty: "So... what's the gossip? What are they saying about me?"
She was stunned... absolutely non-plussed... not expecting a teejay style out-of-the-blue bluntness as profound as the one I put on her. I'd hoped to blind-side one of the remaining friends I felt I had. Ultimately, I was right! I got a rise out of Betty J.
"Go ahead," I said, noting her reaction. "What's the skinny? I can handle it."
Despite the "worldly" part of her brain put there by her "worldly" dad, Betty knew the JW game. As the milliseconds passed, I could see her mind working, spread all over her face. She'd sized up her antagonist and wanted to give the perfect response, so as not to "discourage" me. I'll never forget her answer...
Her first words, verbatim, were: "You can handle the truth better than I can."
I smiled. Inside and out. Damn skippy!
I'm not afraid of the truth. My Mama taught me that. Real truth. Just let me have it. In the gut. In the shin. In the face. In the back. However. Just let me have it. Please.
Betty
by teejay 5 Replies latest jw friends
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teejay
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frenchbabyface
the more I read you and the more I feel like you are melancolic type ... (it's cute, somehow) ... but is there something missing at the moment ? (it's not a question you have to answer to)
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happyout
TJ,
I would be interested in the rest of the story. Did Betty terminate her relationship with you like a good JW when you were df'd? Or did she show some backbone and maintain the love?
I reminisce like this a lot also, but I don't seem to come up with as many good memories as you do. Most of mine are peppered with people not telling me something until way after it happened (like my JW boyfriend cheating on me, but one of my best friends not telling me), or writing me off for being honest (well, if you don't have a relationship with Jehovah, you can't have one with me".
There are really so few people who actually loved me unconditionally .............
Happyout - who agrees that TJ is sometimes melancholy
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teejay
Funny you should reply to this, Happyout. You and Betty remind me of each other, although your voice and laugh are way more sexy... but you KNOW that!
Betty and I were never an item. I absolutely loved her brain but I was married at the time. Funny... those provincial morays that plagued me then, but truthfully, aside from her brain, Betty wasn't my type. I never had a thing for her... never really hung out with her all that much. I'm just the sort who was then and am now able to acknowledge brilliance when I see it. She was --- brilliant, I mean. And I sensed that I could trust her. I digress...
By the time of the above noted conversation, I'd been reinstated. My adulterous ex-wife whose father was an elder was never df'd (only privately reproved). Too, the ex-wife had many allies who believed her tale(s). Betty was not one of them. As I mentioned, Betty had a brain.
Funny thing about Betty. As I recall, that was the last time I remember talking to her. Ten or twelve years ago, it was. -
teejay
Something missing, Frenchy?
Like what? -
frenchbabyface
I don't know, only you can tell ...