The same but different

Last Monday I found a little house on crai*slist for rent, so I decided to take a look. So, I met the owner at the property. He mentioned to me that I looked familiar, but I didn't recognize him. Then as we were wrapping up, I told him my last name, which is pretty rare, and he said he knew my father-in-law & that they used to meet at a coffee shop every week to discuss the bible. I thought, 'oh great' and asked him if he was a Jehovah's Witness....cautiously. He said he used to be but wasn't any longer. I was relieved and apparently so was he, because when I told him I no longer attend or affiliate myself he said, "oh thank god!" Haha. I guess a few years ago he was at the coffee shop and we were here visiting my in-law's and they introduced us to him, though it's only vaguely familiar to me.
Anyway, we like the place and it's a 3 bedroom house so we're gonna rent it. Right now we're in a triplex and it's okay, with the boys only being home a few hours a day (with school in session) but once summertime hits, if I'm still home and not working, it would have been challenging- especially with the noise level for our poor neighbors and Matt trying to work in the bedroom. I think we'll be moving in about a month.
Anyway, strange story. Maybe this is what I need. I've been wanting to meet up with some ex-Jehovah's Witnesses, since they are the only ones who truly understand the shift that you have to make once you lose the religion. He asked if we wanted to come hear his band play next Friday night too.
As a witness, so much is kept private. Telling someone how you really feel about things, is dangerous. It sounds crazy to me now, but if you open up about what you really think, and if those things are not right in line with "current understanding" of the church, you can be ex-communicated. So, growing up and being a JW is very alienating, obviously. Even now, when I mention something out loud to someone, I get the emotional tug, that what I'm saying is bad. I think I'm finding out the advantages to life when I open up my heart and am honest about who I am and what I really believe. I'm connecting more and more & with people of all types.
A few weeks ago, at my work, they had a cultural training seminar. The question was asked of all of us, if we ever felt different than those around us & what the circumstances were surrounding that experience. We were to share it with the class. I told them about the experience of being raised a JW and feeling like that was normal, because I was surrounded with other JW's. It was when I left, that I felt out of place in the world. I felt sort of silly sharing this, as I'm sure everyone did with their own experience. But as I listened, I noticed that many of those that were in the room felt different because of religion or their lack of religion. One girl grew up in a Mormon community, but her family had never attended a church. Another said he was raised in a Southern Baptist community and his family were Atheists. I realized how much more alike we all are, rather than different, which was a huge gem to my recovery. After hearing everyone speak, I probably could have put most of the people in the room's experiences, into just a few categories, as to why they felt different, which was really eye opening. We are so much the same, really.