#heroin mention

Being a child of ‘unfortunate circumstances’ while being a witness was one of the most isolating experiences for me before I left. My dad was disfellowshipped, my mom was never a baptized witness and they were both on heroin for a while. This was never a secret to anyone in the congregation.

Despite me not living with them and instead being in the care of my grandparents, it still seemed that people would keep me at a distance. Not entirely by any means, there were a few people that were closer to my family and understood the situation more, but anyone not in our inner circle was much more skeptical of me. I was often not invited to social gatherings that the other kids were having, and really only talked to my peers at the big get-togethers. At meetings I spent most of my time talking to the elderly people sitting in the back room, and they treated me kindly. But that’s not a replacement for socialization with your peers.

The one family that didn’t reject me and actually let me stay at their house for a few days, ended up mostly leaving the cult. So… that says something.