Sherri

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Posts by Sherri

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  43

  My grandma

  by Vivamus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my grandma was a remarkable woman, with a sense of humour that could crack me up.

  and she had the determination to make everything she started a success.

  she never gave up, and fought for everything she hold dear.

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  Sherri

  Thank you for sharing your very touching story. I'm so sorry for your loss.
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  13

  Brit Cuisine( ! )- A Guide For The Gourmet.

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for some time now, i have been becoming aware of with what great high esteem our british cooking is regarded throughout the world.

  i am not just talking about botulism and salmonella pie steak and kidney pie, but the really traditional stuff, some of which is almost edible.

  here, for your delectation and comments, is our first great british dish, cod, chips and mushy peas:.

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  Sherri

  Don't knock mushy peas until you've tried them---yummmmmmmmmm! With a bit of salt they're a perfect savoury/sweet treat.

  As an American transplant to the UK, I've come to know and love a variety of British delights (besides my husband, that is): warm (room temperature) beer, outstanding sausages (mostly meat, not gristle like in the US) with mashed potatoes and onion gravy, Scottish shortbread, steak pie (no kidneys, sorry), yorkshire pudding (nothing like Jello brand; these are more like little pastries with a dip to hold the gravy), and on and on.

  I've been here eight years and there's not much I miss as regards food, except for good places for breakfast (here you can only get 'the full English', the proverbial heart attack on a plate--fried bread, fried sausage, fried bacon, fried egg, fried mushrooms, and, as a token gesture to fibre, baked beans. Where's the omelet, the French toast, the blueberry pancakes?!) and Mexican fast food.

  And, as Mulan mentioned, there are all the other goodies brought in from other places: great curries, Thai, Lebanese, etc.

  Give me Brit Cuisine any day!
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  55

  Things JWs don't say

  by WildTurkey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lets post somethings as a dub you dont say:.

  luck, you dont say party, its a get together.

  you dont go to church, its a hall

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  Sherri

  Darkhorse:

  I found your remarks about your friend's lack of social skills interesting.

  When I left 16 years ago, I was nearly 27 years old and had been married eight+ years. However, because I had not been allowed to have normal relationships in school and certainly nothing approaching a normal relationship with the "men" at the KH, it was as if I was only 14. I had no idea how to relate to people without trying to convert them at the same time.

  Also, I found that I was way too open with people; I said things that were inappropriate to people I had just met. As a JW, I (naively) thought that everyone had my best interests at heart and could be implicitly trusted. Even though I eventually found this wasn't true, some of that sense of things remained.

  I remember one guy I dated a couple of years after I left. He was a bit older than me, and he was totally amazed at how I told him so many intimate things about myself (intimate, not necessarily sexual); he actually told me that I shouldn't be that way, and my feelings were hurt.

  If you go through your pre-teen and teen years as a witness, I think it can do tremendous damage, not only to your self-esteem and, really, your sense of yourself as an individual, but also to your ability to form mature relationships with others.

  It's easier now, but I'm still conscious of how being a witness (de)formed my social skills.
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  26

  Anyone Near Dayton OH

  by zenpunk in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm being flown out next week for a final interview and a tremendous job opportunity.

  but before i sell the house and move - i was just wondering how many of you are out there and your opinions of the area (i will need some new good association).

  also, i'm from the wilds of ny - do you think i can adjust to ohio?

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  Sherri

  Many thanks to borgfree and sunstarr for your replies. I've been on holiday for the past several weeks and haven't checked any emails or posts.

  I was glad to hear that things seem to have worked out for Tom (though not so glad that he's still in). When we met at work, he was searching for the big answers (even dabbled a teeny bit in Scientology), but was ripe for the absolutivism (word?) of the witnesses. They had all the answers to all his questions and he took to it in a big way. He studied with my dad and we were married eight months after we met. We had no money, but we did have a lot of fun and were very "zealous for the truth". Of course, he was well bothered when I decided I couldn't do it any more. We'd been married about eight years by then and he had changed a lot; he'd become very serious and very single-minded. I'm so glad to hear that he still seems to be the kind, personable man that I knew.

  As for Sybil Williams, I do remember her and would be happy to hear from her. I knew her daughter and son-in-law as well.

  A friend of mine who used to go to that hall has recently left, and she has filled me in on much of what's happened in the 15 years I've been gone. That thing about the car was a new one, though!

  Thanks again for answering my request for info.
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  26

  Anyone Near Dayton OH

  by zenpunk in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm being flown out next week for a final interview and a tremendous job opportunity.

  but before i sell the house and move - i was just wondering how many of you are out there and your opinions of the area (i will need some new good association).

  also, i'm from the wilds of ny - do you think i can adjust to ohio?

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  Sherri

  Hi Borgfree, (Tried to email you, but without success.) I grew up in the Dayton area and attended the Vandalia (Tipp City) and other congregations in the Dayton area from around 1970 until I left in 1986. My name was Sherri Hufford, then Sherri Ludwig. I'm betting that you knew my ex-husband, Tom, who I think is still associated with a Greenville congregation. Is there anything you can tell me about him? Our marriage broke up when I decided to leave, and I always felt bad about that. He was a really nice man (probably still is), very sincere. Ironically, he became a JW in order to marry me in 1978. I helped build the London Assembly Hall. Is that still being used? I remarried five years ago and now live near London (the big London, in the UK). While I have absolutely no regrets about leaving the Witnesses, I do regret the people I lost along the way. Any info you think might be interesting would be much appreciated. Like I said, I still miss the people, if not the beliefs. Sherri
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  6

  Sharing My Joy

  by Sherri in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've not posted here for a long time, nor have i kept up even with browsing around, but i had a sudden urge to share my joy with the only group of people who might possibly understand how much this means to me.. i left the jws about 15 years ago, of course losing basically everyone i was close to in the process.

  over the years, i've never forgotten my old friends.

  sometimes i dream about them, and when i wake up i feel bad for hours, missing them and knowing that they are as good as dead to me.. i visited my family in october 2001 and my brother told me he had run into one of my old friends in a bar.

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  Sherri

  I've not posted here for a long time, nor have I kept up even with browsing around, but I had a sudden urge to share my joy with the only group of people who might possibly understand how much this means to me.

  I left the JWs about 15 years ago, of course losing basically everyone I was close to in the process. Over the years, I've never forgotten my old friends. Sometimes I dream about them, and when I wake up I feel bad for hours, missing them and knowing that they are as good as dead to me.

  I visited my family in October 2001 and my brother told me he had run into one of my old friends in a bar. I asked him to set up a meeting while I was home. We met in a restaurant, and when I saw her, it was as if 15 years had never happened. It felt to me as if she had come back to life--I could see her, hug her, talk to her, hear what's been going on in her life for the past years. She is in the process of a divorce and in the process of leaving "the truth" as well.

  The reason I'm feeling so joyful right now is because tomorrow morning I pick her up at Gatwick Airport for a three-week visit!! We have so much to catch up on, and I am SO HAPPY to be able to spend time with her again! I have been looking forward to her visit for months, and tomorrow she'll be here!

  Thanks for listening. As I said above, only ex-JWs can understand what a precious thing it can be to regain contact with ones lost through that stupid shunning doctrine. Happy day!
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  36

  Who was a squeaky clean dub?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm wondering if the majority here were seriously conservative squeaky clean dubs?

  i took the whole thing very seriously.

  there seems to be such a fun element here - i can't imagine everyone being those dull folk all decked out in their wt uniform with accompanying plastic expressions.. marilyn

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  Sherri

  RedHorseWoman: Your first paragraph sounds like it could've been written by me, and the second not far off. It's amazing to me how many similar experiences/feelings we have all had.

  I was a goody two-shoes as well, from the time I was first introduced to the WT (about age 10) until I left at 27 (with a brief hitch in the middle--one of these days I'll put it in Personal Experiences).

  I wanted to please God so badly that I tried really hard to do _everything_ by the book. Paradoxically, the "better" I was, the more aware I was of my "failings". Stress kept piling onto stress until I just had to get some relief. First, I stopped pioneering. Hey, that wasn't so bad, so I thought maybe I'd miss a few meetings and cut field service down to once a week. In about six months, I was out, with all the new problems that brings. It took years to sort out, but leaving was the best thing I could've done--though I now feel a bit guilty for not feeling guilty.

  Reach out! Take a chance! Get hurt, even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an 'L.' Give me an 'I.' Give me a 'V.' Give me an 'E.' L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you'll have nothing to talk about in the locker room.--Maude (Harold and Maude)
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  51

  Favorite movie line?

  by gilwarrior in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  what is your favorite movie line?

  please mention the movie line and why it is the best.. my favorite movie line:.

  "ever since i was a kid...i always wanted to be a gangster.".

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  Sherri

  Just about anything from Harold and Maude, my all-time favourite movie. Some bits:

  "Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt, even. But play as well as you can...Otherwise, you've got nothing to talk about in the locker room."

  "How the world dearly loves a cage..."

  "A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they're not dead, not really. They're just backing away from life."

  And from O Brother, Where Art Thou?:
  "Gopher?" (Tim Blake Nelson offering George Clooney gopher-on-a-stick)
  This movie is a must-see. Funny, with great music.
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  62

  How Long A JW ( Baptised )?

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i frequently read on this board that somebody has 'been a jw for over 25 years' and then learn that they are in fact 25 years and three days old.. i am very easily confused, in fact i actually got inside a car of similar color to my own recently and spent at least five minutes with a furrowed brow trying to force my car key into its ignition, fortunately, i realised my error before i was arrested.

  so, just to humor me, can you all post how long you were/are baptised jw's?.

  thank you -- hs.

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  Sherri

  Baptised at the age of 14 in January 1974.
  Disfellowshipped in May 1986.
  So, 12+ years altogether (why does it seem like three times that??)

  Reach out! Take a chance! Get hurt, even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an 'L.' Give me an 'I.' Give me a 'V.' Give me an 'E.' L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you'll have nothing to talk about in the locker room.--Maude (Harold and Maude)
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  33

  Bethel Doctor--Is it me, or was this odd??

  by Sherri in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was at bethel with my now ex-husband in early 1982. at that time, they did a tb test as part of the physical when you started.

  mine came out positive for exposure (though i did not and have never had tb), probably because i had worked as a receptionist in a hospital x-ray department.. the weird bit is that the bethel doctor insisted on giving me a gynacological exam.

  as i was only 22 at the time, and butt-stupid, i went ahead and let him.

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  Sherri

  Thanks for your concern. I have had follow-up since then and everything seems to be okay.

  Thank you, Sam, for the information and links. I know that TB is once again being seen as a major world health issue.