1234: Good post and all good comments!
I was born in and grew up totally immersed in the JW life, along with most of my extended family- I’m 3rd gen. Parents still hard core even in their 70’s and my wife’s in their 80’s. I started fading 20 years ago and left for good over 10 years ago, but I still miss some of the camaraderie, social things, and the feeling that we’re really a worldwide brother hood. Some of the good of living a basic Christian lifestyle and Christian community shine through even the JW’s (moral standards taught, community support within the group, etc). We’re human and like to be part of healthy groups.
It’s so sad that high control groups like JW’s abuse what should be a good thing to keep people in line. JW love and support is totally conditional and this becomes so obvious when one questions ANY JW policy. The Bible concept of Christian freedom under the umbrella of the ‘Golden Rule’ is crushed by many of the JW policies that should be personal choices.
It is hard to start over and make new friends, especially today with how divided and suspicious society in general has become. I have been able to have build a few pretty solid friendships though. I think being a long time conditioned JW permanently changes the way we look at people and that makes it tougher to build new relationships.