In 1975 I joined the St. Louis Hare Krishna temple at the age of 16. My Mom was advised by my Grandma that I'd get sick of it if I actually lived there, so they sent me for two months as an experiment, telling me that I could stay if I wanted to. At the end of the two months they changed their mind and brought me back home against my will. At age 17, we moved from Iowa over the border to Missouri and I found out I could leave at that time, so I went back to the temple. From there I was sent to Chicago as there were more women there to associate with, as we would say. My bio talks about why I left, later on, but in those first innocent days of being a Hare Krishna devotee I enjoyed it immensely at times, amid the austerities we were asked to undergo. I learned many valuable things during my years as a Hare Krishna so I don't regret it--and my children came out of that time in my life. Of course I don't regret them!
Here is a picture from that summer in St. Louis, I am in the foreground 2nd from left, with the purple, blue and white patterned sari and the bead bag with flower appliques and a Krishna button, looking very serious:
I just started using my scanner today. The picture is taken from Back To Godhead magazine, Vol. 11, No.10, and it spanned the first two pages of the magazine, hence the visible fold.
cheerful