Thanks everyone for the ideas .The suggestion to become involved on the local level through volunteerism ... Done that . Very rewarding .
Yet, as great as our new found friends are ... there is still a disconnect within their ability to comprehend our explanation of just how difficult leaving our former religion has been . Some will say " i get it , I grew up Catholic or Protestant and my family was very upset when I left , or changed my religion . They gave me the cold shoulder for a while . But hang in there ... your family will come around and resume talking with you ". Yet within that same conversation they will divulge that their family really only attended religious services several times a year . Not really a fair and equal comparison . We have come to find that , although our friends with different backgrounds try to sincerely relate, the truth is that we grew up on essentially Different Planets ! ( As I stated : my wife and I both grew up as a JW and spent over 35 plus years in ) So that's why we figured that finding a few people to connect with who shared our background as well as our " escape" would be helpful .
As far as starting and organizing a meetup group ... we will need to think about that one . LOL
Thanks again everyone . Our search will continue :-)