how does everyone else cope with being shunned by family?
Well, I got used to not seeing some members of my family. It's kinda sad in some respects, but it's their choice. And maybe I don't have it too bad, because it's mainly my sister & one uncle that are still j-w's. Pretty much everyone else has either been disfellowshiped or has just walked away.
And of those two, the one the really gets under my skin is my uncle, who lives about 60 miles away. I occasionally go to that town because he & one of my cousins (now a born-again type) live there, just a few blocks away from each other. And my uncle always gives me an earfull about how I should return to the KH. I listen politely & talk with him, because I know that he really believes in this stuff as 'the truth'. He's doing what he believes in his heart to be the right thing to do.
But when I get ready to come home, he always says "Don't be a stranger. Come see us again soon." And THAT'S the part that irks me. It's not like the highway has only an eastbound lane. (Otherwise, how would I get back home, right?) For the life of me, I can't figure out why he never finds the way west to my town, and never picks up the phone to call. Is it my deodorant or something?