Hej Hatchetsup,
Welcome to the board. Sorry about your grandmother, it is hard to say goodbye...at least you got that chance.
To come back to your asking for help. I want to tell you about my brother. He is 48 and been a biker since he was 16, covered in tattoos, loves heavy rock and has lots of lovely girlfriends (2 kids as well). He is a lovely guy, heart of gold and would do anything for anyone.
We were brought up as Jws but my parents left the "truth" when he was 12, I stayed in for various reasons (fear, group acceptance, low self worth, hatred of my parents....many other reasons).
When my brother left her had his wild life and the topic of the witnesses we sidestepped to remain good friends. When I left after over 30 years of being a witness he was shocked to his core. He never believed I would stop, I was so IN... Well the conversations we had from that point on were very revealing. He still suffered from nightmares of armaggedon from the pictures in the old books. This is after 36 years!
My view now is that we were young and impressionable, we were taught that it truly was going to happen. We keep it deep inside of us the same as all the other lasting deep impressions in life are there. In times of stress or extreme difficulties many of the old insecurities pop up. The mind reverts quickly to the deepest memory and up it comes....I was in therapy for a while to understand just how it works. It means we subconsciously go back to those old "truths" to find meaning in our life crisis now. I went through this with recalling child abuse some years ago...the memories just pushed their way up even though I had blocked them.
So dont be too suprised by what is happening. Just do not make the mistake of believing what your memory is telling you. If you want to investigate the witnesses you can do it without a bible study with them, this board will help you. You may feel your life choices have been wrong, but there again they were your choices...at least you had that chance. Those staying with the witnesses give up all life choices and go into remote control.
Life is wonderful if you keep in mind that there are always the unknown things that can alter it from one day to the next.
After 45 years as a witness I can say I truly started living 2 years ago when I stopped and put it all behind me.
I wish you all the best in your quest.
Chicken little