Great thread - and very relevant to my circumstances right now.
We have no JW family - but we do have non witness family who live overseas, and with whom we have always kept a happy relationship.
Thankfully, over the years they refused to let our dominant religious beliefs, such as not attending important family birthdays, Christmas etc etc get in the way of us being family to each other.
I'm getting through, day by day, processing the loss I feel about my 'faith' and most importantly 'trust'.
That includes trust in myself.
I feel ashamed and this causes me some bad down time.
My integrity felt increasingly compromised by the looney tunes coming out of WBTS... It made me feel sick.
I do have a couple of old friends from my former life who have stayed as real friends, but not living locally.
And I was absolutely delighted to get a surprise email from an ex business colleague this week - she and her husband are moving back into the area - and are looking forward to reconnecting with 'special' friends.
Last year, she and I had to attend a funeral together - having not seen each other for several years.
She spoke so warmly of our connection through the years - we hope to build a more involved social life together now she is going to be around.
It's the navigation from one life to another on a daily basis that causes grief and hurt.
Also out of the blue a dearly beloved 'sister' texted me - saying her heart is tied up with mine..... We had a major fall out when she decided that my factual criticism of the GB was more then she could handle.
But she wants to keep our relationship - even if it will be changed.
One of my non witness in laws has asked me to do a small city vacation with her....
We all have opportunity to create a new day, every day.
But we have all endured a huge shift and kindness to ourselves is paramount.
Some days will be dark.
But not every day.
Getting rid of the syrupy toxic stuff takes time it seems.