Thankyou SU

[Slinky]

Been thinking of posting something for a while. Invariably it slips my mind or I just get busy with life, until the next time this place pops into my brain.

Well, I don’t know whether it is having a bit of time on my hands right now, or feeling particularly wistful (as some folk will be all too aware of ), but I thought I would give it a shot today.

On and off, I do miss what SU gave to me over the years. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, my ‘active’ period wasn’t all that long. And it feels somewhat strange to feel this way about a place that, while still here in a sense, disappeared a long time ago. That particular notion of home that you can never return to.

Rose-tinted glasses may come into play here. As is often the case with memory and the known quantities of the past, opposed to the unknown, scary future. In many ways I am far better off now than I was 15 or so years ago (wow :S). Yet my time on the board in its heyday, and especially chat, has always had a special place in my heart. It may seem sappy and sentimental to say, but it isn’t till you live a bit more that you see what a period in time meant to you. I have stuck my toe into the murky waters of discord and such. A shame our own channel there didn’t take off. And whilst I’ve never been the most active of people online, then or now, nothing has ever really come close to the best days of staying up and having a laugh in the chat. And I doubt it will, in an online sense.

Of course, I don’t want it to sound like I haven’t gotten on with my life away from the computer! The me back in the early/mid 2000’s would probably not believe the person I have become, and what I have done.

I guess It’s just that…..I miss that sometimes. The chatroom. A group of people getting along, joking and, well, just having other folk there at a certain time of life. As with most things, I probably build it up in my own mind. Far more than other people who maybe have long forgotten all this. It felt special to me, unique in a way that, again, only time has taught me how rare it probably was to have that space and those people. I knew it wouldn’t last long, never mind forever, yet the decline was difficult to adapt to, and to move away from.

I don’t really know the purpose of me writing this, just that I guess I had to get it out. To make it known what those days meant to me, with the things I was going through at the time, and that I cherish it. I am happy it happened, even though it cannot happen again. And I love the people involved.

I’m glad I got the courage to eventually go in there, endure dial-up internet and the disconnections every time the telephone rang!

I was going to mention people by name, but fear of forgetting someone means I’ll just leave this here.

Thankyou SU. And thankyou chat peeps.

[Sigh]

I would write something vastly more eloquent right now if I wasn't trying to get to bed to commute to my shitty job in the morning.

But in summary - totally agree Slinky. They were days that got me through some of the darkest times in my life, and honestly I don't know where I would be now without the group of people back then. It was the one place I felt I could be myself at the time.

Years may pass and things may (will, because they always do) change but we'll always have SU back in the day.

[silence]

Well said Slinky. Honestly I think the same feeling is why I'm here now

Definitely have never found anywhere else where I feel comfortable writing down my thoughts.  

Dec 13, 2022 11:36:27 GMT -5 Slinky said:

I guess It’s just that…..I miss that sometimes. The chatroom. A group of people getting along, joking and, well, just having other folk there at a certain time of life. As with most things, I probably build it up in my own mind. Far more than other people who maybe have long forgotten all this. It felt special to me, unique in a way that, again, only time has taught me how rare it probably was to have that space and those people. I knew it wouldn’t last long, never mind forever, yet the decline was difficult to adapt to, and to move away from.

aah now this really makes me regret not joining in the chat at the time people here were so nice I don't know what I was afraid of! 

Thanks all 

[Zoe]

I absolutely agree with what everyone has said. This was a place I found where no one really judged you on what you wrote and in fact supported one another, whether cheering one on or giving advice. I had the wonderful opportunities to meet a few SUers in person and they were as sweet as they are on the forum.

Understandably people move on, they have other responsibilities or found solace in other forms and I wish them well. Mind you, they could also be like me in the last 45 minutes, trying to figure out what the password is to login and dreading to open a new account to start over again if I wasn't successful.

I dunno, it is a new year...I would like to be optimistic, and believe we can rebuild that special something, even if it isn't the same as before. I can see we still have past members checking in the last few months. Whilst some of us might not be chatting live, members reading and sometimes responding to a post here is really sweet and something to look forward to.

Welp, it is getting late and this old lady needs to get her sleep so she has energy to go to work in the city tomorrow. Nighty night everyone

Here's something I found on insta, that sums it all up

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmgudTIMADJ