For those who have been out for a while, was there anything special about the very last meeting you attended (excluding memorials)? Was there anything incredibly memorable about it?
Last Meeting
by Nosferatu 33 Replies latest jw friends
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shamus
The last meeting that I went to, I was wishing that I never went. The only thing memorable was the strong desire to get the hell out of there - that's it.
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Emma
Shamus, amen!
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Lady Lee
The last meeting before I learned the truth about the whole borg I was thinking about going back so went for one more meeting. I had spoken with an elder about my intentions so they knew I might show up.
When they saw me there they changed the reader for the WT study and asked my ex-husband-elder-abuser to read. Then they asked him to say the pray.
I was livid but stood there and took it until that pray. I had his new wife sitting about 5 seats over and one row behind me (yup I was in the last row near the door but there was one more row on the other side) So she sat there glaring at me the whole time. Wish I had it more together at that point I would have looked her straight in the eye and asked how her sex life was with him. And I would have sttod up during the meeting and started to tell them some real truth about the man on the platform reading the WT.
In retrospect I think the new wife may have been wondering if I went through the same as she was now that she was married to the abuser. She left him about 5 years later - found the same way out I did to be free of him.
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Matty
How spooky, I was going to ask the very same question today! I'm only a couple of weeks away from attending my very last meeting and although I feel relieved that I won't have to go again, after a year and a half of fading I feel very odd right now. I still have a strong attachment to many people I've grown up with in the congregations I've attended during my life, and I'm wondering whether it will be something that will hit me hard emotionally. Nobody will know it's my last meeting apart from me by the way. I look forward to hearing others comments.
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shamus
Matty,
Here is how it's going to go:
TYPICAL LEAVE - Nobody will call you, and you'll never hear from them again. Even friends who you thought that you were close to, will not mention you, or ever call you again. You will be shocked at their lack of love, their conditional friendship. It will be a major disappointment to you, and you will be hurt that nobody noticed.
BTYPICAL LEAVE - Elders will be banging on your door until the cows come home, calling, calling, calling, calling, phone ringing, get caller ID!!!!!
One of those two will happen. The one that you expect the least will...
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Nosferatu
I had totally forgotten what happened at my last meeting until I read my journal. I was 18 1/2 and my parents were still "encouraging" me to go to the meetings. At my very last meeting, I gave a talk from the platform in the Theocratic Ministry School. After that meeting, my parents quit "encouraging" me to go to the meetings. I never returned. I've never looked back.
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Elsewhere
I had been drifting for about a year... It was not a conscious act and I didn't really notice it until it was done. Meetings and field service were an incredible burden that I skipped more and more. I always felt a sense of relief when the meeting start time came and went and I was still at home. I just hated the inevitable phone calls and visits of the brothers wanting to know why I was not at the meetings or FS.
The last meeting I went to was a TMS. The brother on the stage was giving a talk about truly believing the bible and the organization. At one point he said that if you don't really believe, then you might as well leave the organization. So I immediately gathered up my things and walked out… never to return.
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Scully
Nosferatu writes:
I had totally forgotten what happened at my last meeting until I read my journal. I was 18 1/2 and my parents were still "encouraging" me to go to the meetings. At my very last meeting, I gave a talk from the platform in the Theocratic Ministry School. After that meeting, my parents quit "encouraging" me to go to the meetings. I never returned. I've never looked back.
That must have been one helluva talk, then, Nosferatu!! heh heh You wouldn't happen to remember what it was that you said in your talk that made them back off so dramatically, would you?? Love, Scully
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La Capra
I had to postpone my escape a few months because of this vacation my mother had planned with a number of the "friends". I wasn't going to miss out on 10 days in Kauai, so I held my tongue until we returned. My last meeting was in Kauai, Sunday talk/Wt. My plan was to leave my Bible, Watchtower and Songbook there, but some little dogooder girl saw me leave them at the seat and brought them to me as we were leaving the hall. Last meeting. And as every little boring ritual passed. I would think to myself last time for this, last time for that. I was quite happy at that meeting. Shoshana