I spent the majority of my growing years in the Crystal Lake area, with a watchful eye under the tutleledge of the grownups whom I thought had it all figured out. Milkovetch, Penkava, Redman, Gordon, and Sterne, before the congregations split into 2 in the late 90s, I was already enamored into the truth with total belief and readying for the Revelation Book persecution. then your families crumbled with red letters surfacing all around.
During and after a storm of controversies, scandals, and the like, I realized all people are people and prone to bad decisions and mistakes. Teens marrying decades ahead, family couples splitting for youngsters, and the usual adultery and whatnot convinced me JWs were no better or worse than anyone else. At first I was crushed at how it could happen in God's true home, but then allowed my doubts to grow and ended up on the outside, perhaps with a more even perspective on humankind and what people really want despite the fairy tales told all around them.
I am no better than them all, only once I believed I was below them. Now I know better.
