I know plenty of people who "drifted" away and anytime I saw them they would always be "planning on getting back to meetings soon." "Soon" never came it was just a line they used if they encountered an active JW.
Bizarre behavior when you think about it if you ran into someone you knew from a chess club or softball team you are no longer attending you may have a passing conversation about the club but would you immediately start to explain away your current chess habits and explain how you are not playing as much as you would like because of anxieties of life blah blah...?
No you would just talk like a normal person ask how they are, their health, their life, their family etc.
Imagine saying well if you're not playing chess anymore I shouldn't be talking to you!