It's rare that I bump into someone from the old hall. But it happened yesterday with one of the nicest brothers I remember.
He came into my place of work not knowing I worked there. My company is now on his delivery route. I saw his new beard and knew immediately he was no longer active, because as we all know, bearded men will not inherit God's kingdom. His face lit up. I think mine did too, as I really did have genuine affection for this guy. His wife at the time was profoundly apposed to his participation in "that filthy cult" and she was hell bent on making his life miserable. She succeeded. He saw it as persecution, Satan's attempt to keep him from Jehovah, reinforced by all of us in the organization who loved him.
He shook my hand furiously with a big smile and... we caught up. He married a new girl who was "not in the truth." Had been inactive for a couple of years and then got a message through his mother that the PO from our old hall just wanted to contact him to provide encouragement.
My old friend told me he really missed the meetings, friends, etc... so he agreed to meet with PO. "[Zoos], I arrived with my tail tucked between my legs. I was contrite, admitted everything and told them I wanted to come back and make things right. THEY POUNCED! Turned out they only wanted me to appear before a committee so they could disfellowship me. They trampled ALL OVER my humility."
I could see the pain in his expressions as he related the story and it made me think of my own experiences and those of countless people on this forum who have shared their stories. We talked for awhile longer - he and I were both on our respective company clocks - but the good news is he is FULLY awake, FULLY out, and happier than I have ever seen him.
And I'll see him again.