My parents joined the JW's when I was five, so I remember Xams and birthdays with my parents, my younger brother can't recall back that far. I got my first job when I was 15, and got into motorcycle's when I was 15, and cars by 16. This gave me a lot of freedom. By 18 I was bored out of my mind, but still stayed with it as I didn't want to hurt my parents. I met my wife to be when I was 22 and 6 months later we were married. She was Catholic. Shortly afterwards I did the big fade. We are still happily married with 2 kids. We live in the burbs in a nice house. My wife and I both work in IT. Basically the early years inthe JW's did me no lasting harm. My only regret was not getting a degree, but if my life was different I might not have my lovely wife or my 2 wonderful kids. We try and lead a full life. I ride a Honda CBR1100XX motorbike. I coach weekend sport in summer. We celerbrate xmas, birthdays. We have regular family holidays, at the beach, camping, skiing, touring by car. We enjoy movies, music, rock concerts, and parties. I am still into motorbikes, but now it's a Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird. We have regular contact with my parents who are still devout JW's. Some thing to remember is that the earlier you leave the sooner you can make a real life for yourself.