My mother started studying to be a JW when I was around 13 years old. After that, I didn't remember Christmas being celebrated. I recall that the first Christmas we skipped, my father put up an artificial Christmas tree anyway, just to protest my mother's actions. My aunt was studying at the same time and my uncle did the same thing.
I come from a Mexican-American family and what I really missed were all the Christmas foods that go along with it. For example, I remember when all my aunts would get together and make tamales. That was always part of the Christmas gift exchange when people would visit each other--you would get to taste someone else's tamales! Also my mother would always bake special breads and cinnamon rolls complete with colored frostings to celebrate the holidays. It was such a disappointment for all of that to stop---not to mention not having any of the relatives over for family gatherings. I missed my non JW Catholic relatives and missed the warmth that went along with the holidays. The hugs, the laughter, the happiness....it was all gone.
I am thankful that my non JW relatives were still there for me after I left the JW's 20 years ago. When I left, they began to invite me to their Christmas dinners and festivities and were so happy that I could join them. Now they were the real Christians. They just accepted me back with open arms and just glad that I could be with them again during the holidays.
Cynthia