In the late 70's, the WT brought out an article that considerably softened their stance on disfellowshipping. My parents duly softened their stance towards me, and, as Cofty suggested, I treated them as though they were an auntie and uncle, except that they knew that I regarded them as being slightly potty. However, I still totally shunned other JW's. After all, I reasoned that I was due for an apology!
A couple of years down the line, the WT re-affirmed their previous hard line, but this time my parents didn't go along with it, doubtless because they knew I would quote the soft WT article back to them. They wouldn't have wanted that!
Later, when my father died, my DF'd brother and my DF'd self took care of momma's financial arrangements and we would call in to se her on frequent occasions. She struggled sometimes when JW's were present on our visits, but as my bro firmly told her, they were her rules that were causing the problem, not ours.
