I just today got word from the doctor that my lungs are now functioning again, I got a severe viral infection in my lungs and it turned into acute asthma. I've been on mass amounts of steroids and have no immune system left at this moment. So yes, yesterday I got my flu shot. I can't risk getting that flu it would kill me right now.
If you aren't in a high risk group, don't get it. It's that simple. For me, I really had no choice.
i know it sounds crazy but i am having more fun with this than any other hobby.. i joined cornell university's: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/.
the fights between the squirrels and jays is hilarious to watch, and i get new species every day.
i finally put out food on the ground for the squirrels and they are dive bombed by the birds, making them jump with about 3 feet in the air with surprise.. the birds and squirrels have become so tame they don't panic when i come out to fill the feeders.
There's a pond outside my living room window and I sit here often watching the birds. There are many, but my favorites are: the snowy egret, the great blue heron, red-winged blackbirds, and the lesser bittern. I could watch the herons all day, I just love the way they move. I used to live where I saw bald eagles and osprey all the time, but don't see them here in Oregon as much, or not where I'm at.
It's really cool sometimes first thing in the morning in late fall and winter when I'm taking my dog out, the foggy mist will be twisting around and all of a sudden hundreds of canadian geese will come honking in, a huge wave of them, and set themselves down in the water for their breakfast.
It's infinitely fascinating to me.
Ada
my wife 'rowan' was born and raised a jw, her father being an elder -a very gentle loving person, but an elder.. some years ago, she was betrayed by a close friend, subjected to a jc and was disfellowshiped & shunned.
the proceeding was completely void of mercy and love, it was much like a violation, a rape.
finding herself df'd was of course terrifying, but the most disapointing outcome was that her father sided with the elders.. eventually she discovered through select books, articles and this board about the fear-driven mind control ways of her religion.
Good morning, Gerard and Rowan, --what an inspirational story to wake up to today. I'm so thrilled to read of your happiness through all the hardships you have endured. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. Sounds like you have such a strong love for each other that you will go far in your lives together.
Blessed be to you both!
Ada
my cool dfd son and i are now soooo frikkin close....god i love him to death....he is 24 and really finding his groove and i never shunned him a sec since he was dfd at 17 anyway...but omg the bond we are now having....and he is so glad i am out on my own and being true to myself.
he invited me to a big party a couple of weeks ago....posted about it with cool pics on facebook....a delayed wedding reception for a couple and a going away as well since they are moving of continent....she used to work for me and what a club i found at the party....she is dfd...husband...all friends...my son....even a coulple of old biz partners of mine were there from a crazy lil biz we started once..........in all there were over 30 former dubs at this kickass rocking beautiful party!!!!!.
and there were even 4 dubs there....real slacker...nonjudgemental friends........ahhhhhhh it was a small club and a great time.
Ah take it easy Oomps, you'll get the hang of it all. Takes time, dating is hard stuff after you've been out of the game for so long.
I look forward to hearing more of your saga, though, very entertaining.
Ada
every year i like to try something a little different, but tend to go back to my favorite...whats yours?.
i use 1/2 pepperidge farm seasoned bread crumbs and 1/2 corn bread and add the following".
2 onions chopped and at least 5 stalks celery chopped sauteed in a cup of butter.
My secret ingredient in my stuffing is shredded Asiago cheese. I make mine with homemade cornbread, onions, celery, eggs, milk, butter, same as everyone, but I put in a full piece of that cheese and it makes it so rich and scrumptous everyone always loves it.
This year, unfortunately I won't get to have T-Day, I've been pretty seriously ill and my immune system isn't up to company yet, but I plan on making up for it at Christmas.
Good topic!
Ada
so many of you come here for recovery and some of you that are almost healed keep coming here and post all this articles and your letters and all the research and your experiences and in several post i have read that if only one person reads it and gets out of the borg then the time spent is worth it.. well i am one of those people.
i read this website and jwr and freeminds.org and jwfacts and thanks to all your posts and all the time you spent researching and posting and writting and even debating those jws that come to the board from time to tieme, thanks to your time spent my life or the remaining of it has been recovered.. so thank you all of you!
it doesnt matter what you believe right now.
LOL@ BTX!
Paradise through Science!
Thats the same promise that dealer on the corner made me! Maybe I shoulda believed him??
hi all, i'm still pretty new here, but i wanted to talk about something more substansive than low quality generic soda brands (my first post and my logon name).. of all the negative side effects of my dub past, the one that still haunts me the most is my complete inability to develop any sort of depth in my relationships with others.
i'm not one to blame all my personal problems on the wbts, but i can't help but feel that it was a significant contributing factor.
i still hate talking about my past, and i work very hard to hide all aspects of my jw past from anyone i meet.
Hey Shasta,
Boy do I understand this dilemna! I grew up in a tiny mountain town in NW Montana US, we were not considered good association because my dad didn't (then) attend meetings. The other witness families were not allowed to associate with us, nor were we allowed to talk to anyone from school after (on the way home) or at any other time than during classroom situations.
My parents were fanatical and we were raised on fear and intimidation and constantly told that we were nothing but that if we went out into the world satan would get us if the evil people out there didn't do it first.
So consequently I find it extremely difficult to talk to people, I just can't seem to make a connection. Even with people here on JWN. I don't know why, but people just don't take to me. I don't know if I come off as stand-offish, mean, flaky, or what, but I never seem to have people want to engage.
I call it being socially retarded, though that isn't PC I suspect. The older I get the more I like my dog! If you find a cure please do tell.
Ada
i noticed this comment by awen on cyberjesus' thread about needing help because the elders were going to call and he wanted to perform an intervention.... awen wrote: "i was informed by one of the elders (not the po, but someone with "pull") that because i had been involved in paganism after i was disfellowshipped, that i would have to wait longer for reinstatement than for the immorality i was originally dfed for 10 years before that.
i pleaded my case that i was no longer practicing that and had been out of it for a year prior to seeking reinstatement and that it shouldn't matter.
i came to learn from this elder that because of my pagan practices, in his opinion i would never be reinstated....".
Some feel to be pagan is to have satan deep within us, demonized. My mom tells everyone that I'm demonized because I'm pagan. As long as they have that superstition it could take a long time.
Ada
two comments from a yahoo group.
i deal with depression myself so i can understand what you and your son .
deal with.
One of the last meetings I ever attended had a talk given by a pos ministerial servant dumb as a box of rox, if it weren't for his family he wouldn't have been qualified to run the mikes. Anyway, his talk was on depression. He opined there are two types of depression. "Real" depression, where you lose a loved one in death, or where something catastrophic happens. -or- the fake kind, where you have the blues for no good reason. In the one case time and the old sky god will cure it. In the other case you need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and quit whining and get on with your life, after all, how dare we say we have faith if we can't even kick the blues.
Yes, stirring, wasn't it? The depths of the lack of knowledge never ceases to amaze me.
Ada
a couple years back i read posts re the lack of windows in the kh.
i think at the time i was still so close to the situation that i thought it was a bit extreme and surely it couldn't be anything like it was being made out to be: conspiracy on the part of the organization.. flash forward to recent days.
i have been attending our local unitarian universalists church (or universalist unitarian?
The thing I liked about UU was that you don't have to agree with them to go there, and you can go as long as you like. They don't ever disfellowship anyone or try to convert them to a particular viewpoint. Not only that, but when I went (a few times a few years ago) I took a tour of the kid's area and saw what they were teaching them in Sunday school. They spend (at least in that particular church/congregation) about a month learning about one religion of the world. They learn beliefs, customs, do artwork as if they were a believer, and as such learn diversity to other thought patterns. There was no attempt to make that particular belief system look bad for some reason. It also impressed me that athiests and agnostics both attended services there.
The divinity of Jesus was never an issue for me, I think he was a wise man like buddha and others, but not god. Anyway, the UU here where I live is waaaay too boring for me, they run it more like a Lutheran service. Put me right to sleep. So I no longer attend. They have to at least hold my attention.
As to the lack of windows thing, I think that was more a US thing, and I really think it originated from a time when they were vandalizing KHs. I remember ours being hit with graffitti, etc when I was a kid. The KH was located smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood and the kids didn't like it being there.
