A genuinely lovely and thoughtful idea for a thread, which I hope helps those who need to reach out, and may be struggling to do so.
I know we all may have our differences of opinions sometimes, but we pull together during tough times, and hopefully this will provide a safe space for anyone who's struggling, and needs a bit of support.
It sounds like you yourself Northstandboy have been through a very traumatic experience. As someone who doesn't have kids, I can only imagine what an awful time that must've been for you, and I hope your son is now well, and that you and your loved ones manage to heal over time, from the inevitable painful memories and scars you've all suffered. Wishing you all the best.
Scotchers, it sounds like you've been through a rough time yourself, but hats off to you for your resilience and proactiveness. I wish you and your loved ones luck moving forwards. I'm glad you've managed to get yourself up and running again, and seem to be in a happier place. We all know how much you love to be positive!
I myself have had an awful 18 months, watching my mum suffering with cancer, and slowly getting worse, until we lost her very suddenly, and painfully. She was only 71, which makes it so much more difficult to accept. It feels like she and the whole family have been robbed of so many years we could've still had together.
It will be one year ago this Sunday, but it still devastates me, and I still struggle to get my head around it, even now it still doesn't feel real. She's constantly in my thoughts, and I and the family miss her terribly. The void she's left behind will forever be impossible to fill.
During this time, I also lost my granddad, who was a massive OUFC fan, and had always gone to games with me, right up until the age of 95, and was very mobile and independent, until he had a nasty fall during the first COVID lockdown, and had to have a hip replacement, and nearly died in hospital from a chest infection, on his own, as nobody could visit.
Thankfully, he pulled through, but he was 96 by the time fans were allowed back into stadiums, and his hip replacement didn't go very well, so he wasn't mobile enough able to go to games anymore.
He sadly went downhill, and passed away, during my mums first round of chemo. I suppose I've always felt a bit guilty towards him, because the family was so preoccupied caring for mum during her treatment as, bless her, she was so ill, that his passing almost seemed to go under the radar a little, even though we loved him dearly and miss him every day. I raised a glass to him after the Wembley playoff final. He would've loved to have been there. I like to think he was.
Also during this time, I lost my home of ten years, due to my landlord suddenly deciding she wanted to sell up, which was a huge upheaval, at a time when I needed as little stress as possible. I now live in a shithole in comparison to what I had, while I try to save for a mortgage, so I don't have to go through an upheaval like this again, but it feels like a mountain to climb, trying to save so much money, when everything in life is already so expensive just to get by as it is.
But I keep swinging, and moving forwards, and thankfully, having such amazing family and friends has helped me to keep going through the darkest days, when sometimes I really didn't feel like getting out of bed.
This forum has also been a godsend during that time, as although we might not all see eye to eye all the time, it's given me a much needed distraction, and a chance to not only chat about all things OUFC, but also share opinions on a variety of subjects, both light hearted and pretty serious, whilst also having a much needed laugh and a joke. I'm grateful for that.
It's also been very heartwarming to see how supportive we all are to each other, when anyone has been struggling, for whatever reason, and thanks again Northstandboy, for providing a thread, that I hope moving forward will provide a specific safe space for anyone to chat, about anything they feel they need to.
Proud to be a Yellow