Hello everyone. I recently found these forums and have been browsing them. I thought it time to introduce myself in case I ever have something to say. Here is a very brief history (it may not seem brief but with all that has gone on and is going on, trust me, it's brief )
I'm 49 yrs old and spent much of my youth in the religion. My mother never got baptized and when I was 15 yrs old she divorced my father. I had been baptized and 2 yrs after the divorce I was disfellowshipped. Though the congregation shunned me, my father refused to do so. My father died in '92 after refusing blood transfusions for a blood disease along the lines of leukemia. The transfusions would not have cured him, only prolonged his life if he had them on a weekly basis.
Five years ago my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and the last couple years of her life she went back to studying with the Witnesses. My mother died from the cancer a year ago this past September. My older sister, who had never been a Witness, was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer (she's now stage 4) two weeks before my mother died. In fact, she was recovering from surgery in the hospital when my mother passed away. My sister has since started studying with the Witnesses.
My younger brother, who is baptized, was disfellowshipped a year ago this past October and has been frantically trying to get reinstated since.
I guess I'm introducing myself because everything just seems really whacky lately and I might need others to talk to who can relate to some degree with what I might be feeling. All this Witness stuff with my family is bringing back feelings I thought I had put behind me.
Thanks for reading this.
Leilani