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Under what circumstances did you leave the compound?
My family left in 1989 after the "new light" revelation. I'd just turned ten that year. We moved away but still kept in touch with several people via phone and mail. My parents had a vacation lined up for the summer of 1993, and were planning to spend it at Lake Waco, and visit with our friends while we were in the area. Needless to say, that didn't exactly happen the way we'd planned.
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Are your parents still alive?
My parents are, but most of the rest of my extended family is not.
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What advice do you have for other children that grew up within cults?
What has been really important for me to learn is that this is and always will be an intrinsic part of "who I am." I can't erase my past. All I can do is try to sort through it, embrace the positive aspects, and take what lessons I may from the negative aspects. The way we are raised shapes our lives, our beliefs, our personalities and to try to undo that is both unwise, and impossible. Unlike adult cult survivors, we have no pre-cult model to compare ourselves to. The best we can do is try to find ourselves somewhere outside of the context of the cult, which is sometimes easier said than done especially in more abusive situations. In that respect, I honestly would have to say, I am really one of the lucky ones. The psychological scars may never fully heal, but physically I was not harmed (and thus don't have a lot of the issues of 'survival' skills, distrust, fear, etc. that usually accompany abuse).