I don't remember seeing it ever really talked about here but the Facebook group with the namesake of this post shut down at the end of March. It was archived and they weren't clear as to when or if they would come back. So far they haven't. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and I know a lot of people were disappointed. That group has 11,000+ members, and it closed down right around the Memorial no less. I personally thought it was just awful. I remember some other site shut down last year and many people came here missing their "home" online. It has to be kind of traumatic for people that have lost so much already to suddenly have a place where they start to feel comfortable get ripped away from them yet again.
I do a podcast once a month and it's a lot of work. Reaching out to people, scheduling interviews, recording the interviews, editing, getting information, creating posts for my site, notes for each episode, uploading them to my host, uploading audio files, waiting for iTunes to index, writing something to put out as a release for each one at the various places I advertise new episodes, answering questions, emails back and forth with people, responding to comments, putting out things to get interest on social channels and responding to comments there, keeping my site built and getting rid of spam comments and approving good ones, I could probably go on. And that's for one episode monthly.
So now let's get to this site. It's been around for a long time. From what I gather Simon has basically built a lot of this custom himself. He, as far as I know, seems to be the only mod. So you know he gets a ton of messages and problems between people here to deal with. I don't know what he does exactly behind the scenes but my guess is there's some SEO involved and other things to keep up with. Props to Simon for keeping this place open while so many others fold. I think it's cool when someone pops up that posted a decade or more ago and that says "hi" again. Sure, I didn't know them, but it's cool that this place is still around so that people can do that.
It isn't easy being an ex-JW. It isn't easy staying involved in the ex-JW community. Sometimes we all just want to get away from it. Some choose to and just disappear, leaving people high and dry. Others give people time to find a new home but it is still hard. Places like this will always be needed as online homes for people finding their way out. A safe place to unload and find someone that understands when everyone around you is blind and you can't point it out for fear of repercussions.
So thank you to Simon, and to your wife as well who I think does things behind the scenes or just supports you in this (I don't know who does what), because it isn't easy and you're truly helping people. This place was a lifesaver for me. I can still remember how terrified I was to read here the first time, and how blown away I was when I realized that you guys saw the same stuff that I did. It wasn't perfect for me, as I wasn't ready for everything that came at me, but it has become a home of sorts. I can leave. I can go away and maybe come back in a decade. Simon is here through it all. I just wanted to say "thanks", and hope a public message like this lightens the load a bit.