I've not posted here for a long time, nor have I kept up even with browsing around, but I had a sudden urge to share my joy with the only group of people who might possibly understand how much this means to me.
I left the JWs about 15 years ago, of course losing basically everyone I was close to in the process. Over the years, I've never forgotten my old friends. Sometimes I dream about them, and when I wake up I feel bad for hours, missing them and knowing that they are as good as dead to me.
I visited my family in October 2001 and my brother told me he had run into one of my old friends in a bar. I asked him to set up a meeting while I was home. We met in a restaurant, and when I saw her, it was as if 15 years had never happened. It felt to me as if she had come back to life--I could see her, hug her, talk to her, hear what's been going on in her life for the past years. She is in the process of a divorce and in the process of leaving "the truth" as well.
The reason I'm feeling so joyful right now is because tomorrow morning I pick her up at Gatwick Airport for a three-week visit!! We have so much to catch up on, and I am SO HAPPY to be able to spend time with her again! I have been looking forward to her visit for months, and tomorrow she'll be here!
Thanks for listening. As I said above, only ex-JWs can understand what a precious thing it can be to regain contact with ones lost through that stupid shunning doctrine. Happy day!