FindingMyWay, I could have written this myself, it is exactly what I think and is the exact experience I have with my old family and friends:
This is one of the many reasons why I know that I will never pursue reinstatement -- especially, not for the sake of my family (been there, done that). I have evolved so much -- spiritually, mentally, emotionally -- that everyone that I once knew will not recognize me. We will have absolutely nothing in common. I have too many doubts and questions and they will not be able to handle the issues that I have with the WTS. I look at these people today and I can't relate as I once could. I don't even know them. They have no souls (for lack of a better word). I look them in the eyes and there is nothing there. The fake smiles mask the confusion that I know for a fact plagues them. They sit there with blank looks on their faces as they listen for something humorous to be said to keep them awake and prevent their minds from fading to the other concerns that weigh heavily on their minds (laundry, what to cook for dinner, setting the alarm to get up for work the next morning, etc.).
I would add that the thing weiging the most heavily on many of their minds is the terrifying fear that the multiple sacrifices they've made for their religion have been a total waste, and that they are in fact going to grow old and die.