Awake at last
JoinedI was born in 1962 to witness parents in Melbourne, Australia. I was an only child. My father was a bit abusive to me and my mum emotionally. Mum was sick and in 1972 faced the blood issue which she survived. I loved being a witness as a child as it gave me somewhere to go and something to look forward to. I didn't care about the teachings but loved the congregation. As I grew up, things seemed to change, or maybe I just grew up. The congregations that I attended did not seem to have the same level of love and I noticed a lot of backbiting, cliques, etc. My mum got old and went to a nursing home where she was totally neglected by the congregation. Both parents are now deceased. I am married with a 12 year old daughter and my husband and I have not been to a meeting since the 2013 memorial. I have been on this site since September 2014 and reading C of C as well as Barbara's material and other sites such as JW Recovery. I still love Jehovah but cannot return to the meetings for the same reasons that many others have found such as lack of love, pressure to put in hours of service and study, the importance of the GB and the commercialism of JW.org. I say to people still in that if you are happy then I am happy for you. It is not the truth if it doesn't make you happy and it did not make me happy, so it is not my truth. My daughter and I both suffer from Aspergers and I have depression also. Life is not always easy and especially so when you are coping with mental illness but fading from the witnesses has relieved a lot of pressure from me and my husband. He has just since about December 15, 2014 started to do research about TTATT also. We can discuss our findings together. We don't agree on everything, but we discuss. He has a sister disfellowshipped for mental problems. His mother and other sister are in still.