At 13 my family moved to Ireland (not to serve where the need was greater, but because of my Dads job). I immediately fell in love for the first time with the most beautiful young Jehovah’s Witness in the new congregation, and shortly after we shared our first proper kiss. I though all was right in my life despite this being ‘wrong’. After a couple of years this relationship ended, it later turned out that her father was a paedophile (or at least that’s the ‘goss’ [story] that was circulated in the congregation). This threw me back into the normal JW life, and shortly after I was finally baptised at the age of 14 – not legal to get married, not legal to enter a contract, but strangely legal to sign away my entire life! I was a late bloomer with many witnesses at the time getting baptised at 12.
Baptism, I had hoped would feel like a change had occurred, but I felt nothing. It was empty that EXACT moment I rose from the water.
By 16 I had achieved fantastic results in my school exams, scoring a near perfect string of results in the ‘Junior Cert’ (English GCSE equivalent). I wanted to attend a non alcohol disco with my friends as I was proud of what I had achieved. This was of course forbidden, and I was devastated that three years of hard work was ignored. In the end I bought my first bottle of vodka and between myself and another witness finished it that night on a sleep over. It’s worth saying that my school was a boy’s only Catholic school – so I only had contact with Jehovahs Witness girls on a regular basis in these years.
The next few years I didn’t care so much about school, what was the point?
My parents were supportive of me attending college, but only if it was the nearest one, and I would be home each night – looking back this was fantastic.
Over the next few years I didn’t study so hard, the nearest college had incredible easy entry requirements which I ended up trebling in my final year exams. During these years before college, I drank like a fish, dabbled heavily in spiritualism, tried the odd joint, and developed a 20 a day smoking habit.
Then it was off to college.