Love what Owleyes wrote.

DC's were always huge deals for me, too. I really missed the first one. They were such EVENTS. Here's the deal though: at least for me, I realized the reason why I was grieving for the first one I missed was because we had almost no "fun" or "big" things to look forward to as JW's. Other than meetings and service each week, what was there for us to do or get excited about? Assemblies and Memorial. I think the whole new outfit and the whole staying in a hotel thing just added another level to the excitement. There was actually a change in the monotonous routine and something to look forward to, so I think, in all reality, that helped make them an even bigger deal than what they were, and at first that promoted good feelings and memories of things lost. And then add the whole you were a big fish in a very small and, well, odd pond. (I came from a very prominent JW family in the area I live in, too. Quite the cache in that in the bOrg, no?) The fellowshipping and feeling important were always good feelings, and it was hard dealing with that. I think grieving for the loss of those memories is very natural, especially if this will be the first one you haven't attended.

Now, 11 years down the line, guess what I think of when I think of assemblies now? Sweltering buildings with no a/c in the heat of summer. Sitting on your ass for hours at a time in hard seats, or in seats with no backs. Final prayers that dragged on and on and never would end. Staying in crappy dorm rooms with paper thin walls, gross community showers, and super early curfews. None of the happy fuzzy memories anymore.