our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
I am waiting for news about funeral arrangements for Eric, should have it within a couple of hours. As soon as that happens I'll post it.
It is amazing and wonderful to see how many people he touched with his humor and his big heart. As horrible as this news is it is comforting to come together in mourning his too short life.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
https://facebook.com/eric.reeder.75
Hope this link works.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
Shamus, I perfectly understand. I got the news from two sources, one from a friend who had spoken with Eric's father and from another friend who got it thirdhand. Friends from his high school are posting condolences on his Facebook page.
I don't want it to be true.
Whatever information I find will be posted here.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
That call was not unexpected but still was a crushing blow. I know he didn't wish to hurt his family and friends, but the pain must have been unrelenting.
If I get any information I will pass it along.
our friend, oompa, has passed away.
just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
it happened today or yesterday, he took his own life.
Our friend, Oompa, has passed away. Just recieved the news a couple of hours ago, and have almost no details.
It happened today or yesterday, he took his own life. Most of his friends know that he battled a number of demons, this religion being the foremost. Unfortunately for us he lost that battle today.
I knew him from the time we were children and he had more life in him than any 50 people I know. He was larger than life, always running headlong into any new experience, and his joy was like that of a child. Of course, his lows were equally dramatic, as he has demonstrated today.
The world will be little less warmer, a little less brighter without him.
i posted on another thread about a couple of my experiences of meeting the governing body while i was in brooklyn.
i wanted to see if anyone else had any experiences along these same lines.
i met most of the ones that were current during the 2001-2003 years.
I've met three, Herd, Swingle and Lett. Herd was our DO and he was a dynamic speaker.
Met Swingle through his sister who was in our congregation. His sister was very quirky, she just did what she pleased and never asked permission or apologized. (I related with her very well) As I recall the elders tried to steer clear of counseling her because she intimidated them. She and her brother both were fun drinkers.
Interesting story about Lett, Sr. In that congregation my father in law, an elder, became involved in a dispute about building a new hall. Lett, Sr moved in right in the middle and he sided with all the other elders against us. In the end, the whole family and our book study were embroiled in it. When my mother in law and I would go out in service no-one would speak to us and when they made up car groups we were totally ignored, left on our own. There was a special committee set up and I remember sitting in on one meeting with them. My mother in law was talking about the hurt she felt at being treated badly by people she had been close to for 20 years, and she broke down crying (I had never seen her come close to tears before). The elder in charge of the special committee sat right there and accused her of grandstanding, of faking it. We were in absolute shock.
At any rate, the CO threatened to padlock the door, and while he had great sympathy for us he advised us to move to another congregation because these people made it clear they had no intention of ever accepting us again. So we did, but about a year later, Lett Sr came to see me at my place of work and actually wanted to apologize for his part in the dispute, saying he didn't do enough to get all the facts before taking sides. Then he gave his real reason for coming to me, he wanted me to convey his apologies to my father in law! He wasn't man enough to apologize in person, so he came to someone who was a lowly female, someone who wasn't important enough to make him feel shame. I wonder how that type of attitude influenced his son, hmm? Also, when I met Jr. he seemed to be pretty strange.
i dont think any of us are glad we grew up in the org.
but i was thinking about people who get cancer, and if they are lucky enough to beat it often they will say that they were better for the experience.
before they got cancer they were stressed because they had to work extra hours in a shitty job to make ends meet, the kids were nothing but trouble and they spent their lives wishing that time would go faster, that week would be over, that the year would be over.
Well, I've had cancer and was a Witness for 50 years. I have to say that the cancer was more beneficial, lol. Changed my complete outlook on life, helped me to break free from the crippling fear of never being good enough, righteous enough or spiritually enough. In fact, without the cancer I'm not sure I would have ever had the courage to leave.
Would my life have been better without the Witnesses? Can't say for sure, but I sincerely believe it would have been much better.
this was inspired by that thread marvin did on the "ectoplasm".. in something of a confession - i actually gave that hour public talk on this subject.
and it was very popular with the jws.. i did not believe a word of it - even at the time.
did not believe in the "demons" either - with or without the slime.. it got me to thinking - how much of this did a small back room of your mind reject?
The first crazy thing I had trouble was that dinosaur that was included in the map of Israel from the inside cover of the old green bible. My little child's brain looked at that and thought the equivalent of WTF!
That was just the beginning of the crap I had to swallow for most of my life. I could never picture myself in the "new system" and never felt any real hope of seeing my grandmother in 'paradise'. All my life I wondered what was wrong with me, when all the time it was those crazy old white men in Brooklyn! Being conditioned from birth to accept insane ideas with no question tends to screw up your life, don't you think?
after being here on jwn for a while, one does see a spectrum of sorts.
there are people here in various stages of their exit from their lives as jws.
some are full fledged kh and fs attendees whom we call "the conscious class".
My fade is pretty well established, haven't been to the meetings in years and I've let my family know I'm not coming back. While they aren't ok with it they've accepted it and as I respect their beliefs by not dissing them, we're good.
I do not miss anything about being one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is a fraud, a sham - what is there to miss? I've never had dreams of being destroyed at Armageddon, so I don't expect any now; I don't think I ever truly believed it anyhow.
As far as friends go, I've never had a large circle of friends, just a few close ones; and while a couple of them can't accept my decision, there are others who have also left the Org so we have our own little support group. Serendipity!
I can't conceive of any circumstances that would prompt me to go back, I'd DA in a heartbeat.
Admittedly, my circumstances have made it much easier for me to leave than for many other people. Both my parents are dead and I am an only child, so my ties to the Org are weak.
My husband has also faded for several years, however his beleif was much stronger than mine ever was as he was a convert and I was a born in. He is still struggling with feelings of loss; he loved field service (imagine that!) and truly wanted to serve in the congo. Over time though, his doubts and fears are fading and he is thoroughly convinced that it is a lie, so it is becoming easier for him.
Our concerns now are building an entire new life, determining a new career and a new location to live and building a new network of friends and interests. Being in our fifties the challenges are interesting, indeed.
he was in a very bad motorcycle accident on tuesday and is in the icu.. i think we could all send our oompa good vibes, prayers and healing angels.. .
.
.
I've learned that the tracheotomy surgery went well and they went ahead and set his arm. On Monday they will start adressing his facial injuries.
Sounds good and I know we all hope he starts to recover soon.
