KimberB
JoinedI grew up a Jehovah's Witness from the time I was 5...about the time my stepfather married my mother. He was a control freeak and I believe he used the religeon partly to control my mother and my brother and sister. Thus, the wife being the helpmate, and the husband being head of household. Like many young JWs I missed out on alot of my childhood... Holidays, dances, birthdays, even after school sports and activities. On my 16 birthday, my mother left my stepfather and we movd to Fl. We remained JW but were not really active. I had several friends, but my mother did not control me like my step father did. My mom let me go out and begin experiencing things for myself, and let me make my own decisions. I had friends in Fl. who were JWs and some who were not. Over time, I decided there was a world outside the JW bubble. Eventually my mom fell out of the organization and moved to Hawaii where she started a very different kind of life. Today she is gay. We both look upon the JW as a learning experience but we're both pretty put out with religeon. I just wish I hadn't missed out on so many things as a child. I never graduated from high school, because at 14 my stepdad pulled me out of school to homeschool. I eventually got my GED and am only now starting college at 26. Thank God for my mother though, who was woman enough to let me chose for myself.