Running Away From Jehovah's Witnesses

There were problematic things in my particular situation growing up, aside from issues of blood transfusion, which were not necessarily related to our religion. I realized my family was different beginning when I went to preschool in England. I was three years old then, and my understanding of the difference between me and other students just continued to grow as I continued on in school.

There were particular activities that I was not permitted by my mother to take part in, such as birthdays for the other children. If someone brought birthday cake or cupcakes, I was not allowed to partake. If the children made decorations for different holidays I did not celebrate, I would go sit in the hall or another room away from the class. Jehovah's Witnesses at that time, and I believe still, did not celebrate Christmas or birthdays, Halloween or Easter. There were numerous occasions during the year when other children would hold celebrations and I would not participate.

When we returned to the United States, I was six years old. I attended first grade in the U.S., and of course then there was the Pledge of Allegiance. Since Jehovah's Witnesses don't pledge their allegiance to any nation, sitting still and silent in my chair was a daily reminder of the fact that I was different.

In my particular household, we prayed at least twice a day, attended "meetings" (which is what we called church services) at the Kingdom Hall or at the home of another member three times a week: two hours on Sunday, one hour on Tuesday evening and two hours on Thursday evening. Each of these meetings required a certain amount of preparation, so we would read texts published by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society in advance.