Raised in the 1950's, surrounded by Jdubs saying The Big "A" was right around the corner... Ummm, just thinking...most of those, if not all, had their own home, mortaged or paid off, the husband 'Elder' working full time, the wife pioneering or considered a 'good' publisher. All the Elders and MS had cars and most wives had their own car too. Most of the congo went on vacations, wore new clothes, kept up with fashions. (This was Los Angeles. No one dressed dowdy). Young marrieds in the 1950's were buying homes. Some who had more money, had rental properties and investment properties, stocks and bonds. On the one hand, saying 'The End Is Near' on the other, putting aside money to fly to New York in 1953 to the Yankee Stadium big assembly, 1955 being special JW delegates to assemblys in Europe, and in 1958, almost everyone from my congo in LA, flew, drove or took the train to New York City to attend the Yankee Stadium/Polo Grounds convention.
In my congo there were lots of dancing parties, even masquerade, people in the circuit/district going to Pasadina Winter Gardens for ice skating and on to Van de Kamp's restaurant for hot chocolate afterwards, and also to the Culver City Ice Skating Rink which was every other Monday night, then go out to Shaky's Pizza Parlor afterwards for pizza, roller skating at the Roller Rama, beach parties galore, picnics at parks with baseball, lots of camping, lots of rock hounding, group horse back riding, volley ball games, tennis, lots of swimming at the beach, JW's private pools, floating on inner tubes down rivers, group outings to the LA Museum of Natural History and Museum of Art, etc, group outings to Griffith Park, Pacific Ocean Park (P.O.P.) in Santa Monica, group day trips to the San Diego Zoo also Los Angeles Zoo, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm.
The point being related to the OP is the older JW's were saying one thing, but like the WT organization itself, doing another.
Bro Knorr, Franz and others, would fly into LAX (Los Angeles Airport) be picked up by a member of the richest JW family in the LA district in one of the familys car, always a new Cadillac, driven to their home in an up scale area (the singer Pat Boone lived around the corner) and being fully entertained... for free. This brother owned 3 grocery stores with his name on them. They even had their own brand name ice cream for a while.
There has ALWAYS been a do 'what we say, not what we do' JW policy in place. Schroeder, the GB member that I am sure, spewed forth words with the rest about the stupid 'higher education is bad' speech, his son Ben, went to University and is now a lawyer living with his lawyer wife in an expensive place in Florida. ??? The son went ahead and did what he wanted, to get the results he wanted for his life. Was he told by his GB member father, don't plan for your future becase 'The Big A' is right around the corner???
It makes me sick to think I was a true Believer and how I let it screw up my life so much.
Get out of her people, before they destroy your life... to enrich theirs.
Hugs to all of us XJdubs. We have been through a lot.
Love from LoisLane
