Hey More,
Weak. Especially my Mother.
My family JW connection happened when my Mother was 5. That was when my Grandmother had that fateful day and opened the door to a Witness.
My mother always hated it. Even from when she was a kid. My Grandfather was bewildered at the loss of his wife to such a bizarre "group" and drank heavily until he died a few years later when my Mom was 12. My Grandmother was "very" strong spiritually. A complete indoctrinated zealot. She was also mentally ill with schizophrenia.
Anyway, my Mom never bought into any of it. I don't think she ever went out in service. She married my Dad at 14 at the KH and had a disastrous 22 year marriage.
My parents went to meetings when I was a baby. My Mom going only to appease my Dad. He was Dfed for reasons unknown to me. The whole Dfing process really led my Mom to hate them even more (She doesn't remember the reasons why my Dad was Dfed and my parents have been divorced for over 22 years). Still, my Dad held to the doctrines and was reinstated a few years later. They went back for a time, but by then all his friends were gone. My parents stopped going to meetings for the duration of their marriage.
Now, during this time when my Dad was Dfed, my zealot Grandmother lived with us. I used to go to meetings with her just to get out of my crazy house. My Dad drank heavily and sometimes the tension was unbearable. And usually, the elderly sisters my Grandmother hung out with were nice to me. I also used to go out in service with her. Maybe if I placed a magazine, Jehovah would have mercy on me. Still, I thought I was pretty much a goner at Armageddon because I envied my worldly friends lives so much. Plus, I accepted valentines at school. Valentines! Imagine that! Yep! Destroy her!
So, I would go to book studies and meetings with my Grandmother while my parents would stay home. It was lonely for me, though. I was allowed to play with worldly kids but because my Grandmother was such a zealot and would start to preach "The Good News" to my playmates, most had no interest to come around. We were the freaks of Newman Avenue.
I had no JW friends. I did have one other schoolmate that was JW, but her family was "strong" and she would only hang out with me on very rare occasions.
Well, sorry, I strayed a bit off the topic. So, to answer one of your questions: No, my parents weren't "strong". My Dad was never an elder or an MS to my knowledge. He did return to being an JW about 12 years ago. Sometimes active, sometimes not. I think when he gets lonely and needs to belong somewhere, he goes back to the KH.My Mom never went back and in fact was shunned by her JW family after the WT 1981 article on Dfed family. Though she was never baptized.
In many ways I feel like I have had my foot in both "worlds". I have never been a "pure" JW, yet, my JW experiences have left an indelible mark on my life. It's took well into my 20's to get beyond the impending doom I felt when something tragic would happen in the world. I'm just so glad I'm not one now.
Andee
Edited by - BeautifulGarbage on 4 January 2003 20:39:44