I have been out since 1971 or 1972. I left of my own free will at 19. My parents (especially my Mom) were heart broken but, I still went through with it. This post reminded me of an event I experienced about a year after I escaped.
My parents, and my younger siblings went away on vacation, and I was at home on my own. I made a decision to stop at the Kingdom Hall, to say hello to my “friends”.
During the time that I had bailed out, I hadn’t cut my hair or shaved, but I thought that the “brothers and sisters” would embrace me, and try and convince me to visit more often.
My former friends were happy to see me, and we hung out before the meeting, but I can remember the mother of the woman who had first knocked on our door (when I was five years old), and gotten my mother interested in “the truth”, walking straight up to me and saying “When are you going to start looking like one of us again?”, and turning around and walking away.
I am sure she didn’t mean to, but she convinced me that I had made the right decision. I have never regretted my choice.