Because I don't have the background to your reunion, could you briefly let me know what some of the trouble in your family had been about. I get impression that they're not all JWs but were at one time hurt when you shunned them and are now reluctant to have anything to do with you. Is that the gist of it?
Steve, some of my bio is here on JWD. The idea that my parents held of me becoming a JW and embarrassing the daylights out of them by going door to door was too much and they disowned me. ("HIS DAUGHTER" didn't DO that!) My father pitched a HUGE fit when I didn't celebrate his birthday the year before I was baptized, and he got all blustery, yelling and spewing spittle--the whole works.
My mother was cold and judgmental of EVERYONE anyway, and my poor little sister was caught up in this web of hate and disapproval of anyone that didn't live up to THEIR standards. Then there was the alcoholic end of things, that my sister and I finally covered for the first time and what an impact it had on us growing up this way. It was quite a revelation that she and I both thought that the other had not "noticed" a lot of the stuff they thought they had hidden.
Any way, she married and got away from it too, but knew our parents would be furious if she tried to contact me so she let the sleeping dogs snooze until both parents died....and then contacted the son that associates with me to get my email address. You know the rest from there!
hugs,
Annie
