Three Events That You Will Remember For The Rest Of Your Life .

[marsh man]

Some very personable , tragic and sad events that are remembered for various reasons , one which one of the above members brought to light that I had forgotten about was the 1987 gales that brought havoc along the East coast , we had many mature trees on the estate that were blown down and the gardeners were busy for weeks clearing them all up , one big wood we had were all mature Fir trees and when it was safe to have a look it resembled a war zone with every tree had the top snapped off , it happened in Oct just before we started our game shooting , that season a lot of dead Pheasants were found in the woods when we allowed in as most of the woods were to dangerous for our beaters to go in and if I remembered rightly we had to cancel some of the early shoots , around that same period we had several really strong gales but nothing came near to that one .

[Eyefor]

15 hours ago, Scully said:

I think these type of incidences are immortalised in peoples minds because they, like those who recall the killing of JFK, remember distinctly where they were when they heard the news
 

I was nine years old, watching Dr Who on the BBC, and had no idea who JFK was. The BBC suspended the programme and I stared at a spinning globe on the screen waiting for Dr Who to return.

Mr Oswald's timing has never been forgiven.

[strimmer_13]

Seeing killer whales off the Welsh coast about 94. Very rare sighting. I was slightly obsessed with the coast back then. 

Losing my virginity around the back of the family planning clinic in Cardigan. I was terrified and wobbly legged for days. Hilarious looking back, wish I married her. 

Being in bed at 3am and getting the phone call to go to my sisters to help tell my niece and nephews their dad ain't coming home (suicide). Then bearing his coffin at the funeral. I lost a life long fishing mate, to drugs and its paranoia. 

Many many more involving adders, dead sheep and girls, but that's stuff to tell the boy when he's older 

[Jim Neal]

1 hour ago, strimmer_13 said:

adders, dead sheep and girls

That sounds like one hell of a party!

[WalkedUp]

I remember where I was for many of these events but none felt relevant to me. 

Diana - sitting on a green carpet at my dad’s house expecting to see cartoons on the television. My dad came in and told us the Princess of Wales was dead, meant nothing to us compared to Elmer Fudd. 

9/11 - hearing whispers on the way back from school and when I got home my sister had unbeknownst to me ran to open the door. I carelessly flung it open and took the big nail off her toe. 

Micheal Jackson - we were having a drinks party at my house and then people wanted to put the television on to see. I was aggrieved to do so as for me his music is second to his problems, but relented. Killed the fun so I suggested we headed into town (away from invasive news 24). 

The event that I will remember for ever though is the start of the second Gulf war. My little brother was crying because he thought we would be evacuated (Goodnight Mr Tom). The next day we went to see my father’s dying godmother Pearl. She asked us about the war. I naively said with the bravado of youth that it was exciting and we were sure to win. Her face fell and she said that “war can never be the answer” then fell silent for a few minutes. My mum explained in the car on the way back that Pearl’s first husband and only love had died serving in the Second World War. She married into a short, unhappy and childless marriage after the war. Then fostered my father when his family abandoned him to emigrate enmasse to South Africa whilst he continued his schooling. I felt I learnt a lot about so much in those few moments, by the time the invasion of Iraq was shown to be based upon a fraud Pearl was dead. I always think back about it and the surety of my stupidity. 

Edited August 28, 2021 by WalkedUp

[Rupert]

Coming home from my last day at school aged 16, in the hallway was a suitcase and i was thrown out by my mother. Went to live at my Grans. I didnt know it then but it was the making of me as an individual but i still bear that cross.

The suicide of my mentor in my early years at work, a hard working and successful bricklayer who showed me that your earnings are directly related to your efforts, encouraged me off the Hod and onto the trowel. I owe him more than i can ever measure.

My father, a shining example of everything i would not want to be, offering to fight me in a bar over drinks  in Vancouver. His new girlfriend had slapped the bottom of my glass while i was sipping and banged it into my teeth, I was 23,worked the doors,at my peak physically and without the respect most Sons have, he insisted and started in. It ended badly for him and he checked into a different hotel the next morning. 

 

 All personal mental pressures that affect me and my judgements now, trust is difficult for me.

[amateur]

Aberfan. Sitting on the bus, coming home from school and reading another passenger's discarded early issue of the Evening Standard.

First Gulf War. We had been on holiday in a Normandy gite, no tv, no radio, no papers. Got on the ferry home and saw a tabloid headline reading something like "We are at war"

***! Who with? Are we being invaded?

As it happened, the shooting didn't start for several months.

911. I was in the office, beavering away, and the Head Office group accountant phoned. "Switch on the TV now" We were glued to it for the rest of the day. Very little work got done.

 

[Scully]

2 hours ago, Rupert said:

Coming home from my last day at school aged 16, in the hallway was a suitcase and i was thrown out by my mother. Went to live at my Grans. I didnt know it then but it was the making of me as an individual but i still bear that cross.

The suicide of my mentor in my early years at work, a hard working and successful bricklayer who showed me that your earnings are directly related to your efforts, encouraged me off the Hod and onto the trowel. I owe him more than i can ever measure.

My father, a shining example of everything i would not want to be, offering to fight me in a bar over drinks  in Vancouver. His new girlfriend had slapped the bottom of my glass while i was sipping and banged it into my teeth, I was 23,worked the doors,at my peak physically and without the respect most Sons have, he insisted and started in. It ended badly for him and he checked into a different hotel the next morning. 

 

 All personal mental pressures that affect me and my judgements now, trust is difficult for me.

Sounds horrendous! Well done to you for picking up the pieces and getting on. Seriously. 👍

[ditchman]

was in Winchester drilling holes doing a a site investigation....went down to the pub for a sarni....and asked the barmaid why she was watching rubbish disaster movies on the telly behind the bar......she said they were showing this disaster on all channels....saw it was the twin towers....was expecting charlton Heston to make an apperance....then it slowly dawned on me that we were looking at real time......spent all day in the pub...watched them go down....went back to site ..packed up went to hotel and sat glued to the telly............

everywhere was quiet....and most people stunned............people were talking together in whispers....all very strange....

[HantsRob]

"do you remember when...."

Funny how I instantly got taken back to where I was for 911 (dentist waiting room with my mum, and I asked her what awful movie would show that in the morning on TV). Same for Princess Di, I was coming off night shift and woke my parents to tell them.

 

I never knew the full significance til later but the fall of the Berlin wall. That's a biggie for me, as was the Challenger spaceship disaster. So sad. 

The worst memory for me? The day I said goodbye to my dad going out to the Gulf war, and realising **** just got real. I think I aged a decade that day. For closure, he came back safely, but young me didn't know that at that point. 

So many other points in my life....

Covid news - telling my team we need to prepare and being laughed at
Osama being shot - it's "over"
A culture change over gay people, and the adoption of LGB into LGBTQ+ etc to embrace everyone
The first Smartphones started by the Apple revolution. Telephony fundamentally changed. (don't cringe too hard at the old lighter app or beer drinking app!)
"Terrorism" took a new form like never before
Brexit
BLM

Finally, all those fads..... Flossing. Gangnam style. Ice bucket challenge. Cinnamon challenge. 

 

Now, looking forward.... we have some inevitable events coming that will shake the world.... the outcome of Afghan, ISIS, IS, Taliban etc. But one that I think will change the global landscape will be the death of Her Majesty The Queen. (I do not wish it however like taxes it is one of the inevitable things at some point).

(selfish note - seeing my boys become men, get married etc. So excited!)

[JTaylor91]

Coming of age with the girl that moved in next door.

Being let loose on the roads on my own. My mates that had already passed their test came across to meet me before we all went out.

The birth of my daughter who made an appearance about 10 weeks early. Born at 4lb 4oz which was about a lb heavier than they predicted. A month in hospital and we finally got to bring her home. The picture is how big she was about 2 weeks old.

[bavarianbrit]

Standing in Time Square late pm on Nov 4 2004 (the US election) at the CNN studio watching the CCN drivel through the big windows with extra monitors outside and Larry King inside, he was so small on his stool. The inside CNN cameramen would pan the windows to show the crowd outside then one of the crowd did a flash to the window (overcoat and nowt else) the crowd roared as we saw it on the monitors but due to the time shift in broadcasting live which never is really live it was never screened.

Nov 22 1963 at my mums birthday celebration, I was 13 till the news hit.

[henry d]

Generally 1982.

Hearing that the "Shiny Sheff" had been hit by an Exocet missile, getting a burst eardrum by our 3" rockets when trying to get the fire pump to them and seeing it in flames.

Watching a Sea king chopper land on one wheel on our flight deck to refuel (it's too big apparently) with the blades missing the hangar by a few feet while the south Atlantic tossed the ship around and flight and fire crews standing tall.

The call to "Brace, brace, brace!" after the seadart failed to fire, the 4.5 hammering away followed by short range weapons and a hollow bang as a 1000lb bomb passed through the ship but didn't detonate. Seeing a machinery room you know like the back of your hand twisted and filling with sea water and diesel, friends blocking the hole in the ships side with their bodies, lashing foam concentrate into the bilge to help prevent the diesel igniting from the 440v loose wiring, using softwood wedges, and mattresses to slow the ingress of water, patching up the various systems as good as we could, chattering teeth due to the cold and delayed shock, and being so tired it was difficult to sleep for a couple of hours before going on watch again.

Returning to Pompey and our families and friends.

[Mungler]

11 minutes ago, henry d said:

Generally 1982.

Hearing that the "Shiny Sheff" had been hit by an Exocet missile, getting a burst eardrum by our 3" rockets when trying to get the fire pump to them and seeing it in flames.

Watching a Sea king chopper land on one wheel on our flight deck to refuel (it's too big apparently) with the blades missing the hangar by a few feet while the south Atlantic tossed the ship around and flight and fire crews standing tall.

The call to "Brace, brace, brace!" after the seadart failed to fire, the 4.5 hammering away followed by short range weapons and a hollow bang as a 1000lb bomb passed through the ship but didn't detonate. Seeing a machinery room you know like the back of your hand twisted and filling with sea water and diesel, friends blocking the hole in the ships side with their bodies, lashing foam concentrate into the bilge to help prevent the diesel igniting from the 440v loose wiring, using softwood wedges, and mattresses to slow the ingress of water, patching up the various systems as good as we could, chattering teeth due to the cold and delayed shock, and being so tired it was difficult to sleep for a couple of hours before going on watch again.

Returning to Pompey and our families and friends.

Blimey H

[London Best]

10 hours ago, henry d said:

Generally 1982.

Hearing that the "Shiny Sheff" had been hit by an Exocet missile, getting a burst eardrum by our 3" rockets when trying to get the fire pump to them and seeing it in flames.

Watching a Sea king chopper land on one wheel on our flight deck to refuel (it's too big apparently) with the blades missing the hangar by a few feet while the south Atlantic tossed the ship around and flight and fire crews standing tall.

The call to "Brace, brace, brace!" after the seadart failed to fire, the 4.5 hammering away followed by short range weapons and a hollow bang as a 1000lb bomb passed through the ship but didn't detonate. Seeing a machinery room you know like the back of your hand twisted and filling with sea water and diesel, friends blocking the hole in the ships side with their bodies, lashing foam concentrate into the bilge to help prevent the diesel igniting from the 440v loose wiring, using softwood wedges, and mattresses to slow the ingress of water, patching up the various systems as good as we could, chattering teeth due to the cold and delayed shock, and being so tired it was difficult to sleep for a couple of hours before going on watch again.

Returning to Pompey and our families and friends.

Thank you, Henry. 
Much respect.

[marsh man]

10 hours ago, henry d said:

Generally 1982.

Hearing that the "Shiny Sheff" had been hit by an Exocet missile, getting a burst eardrum by our 3" rockets when trying to get the fire pump to them and seeing it in flames.

Watching a Sea king chopper land on one wheel on our flight deck to refuel (it's too big apparently) with the blades missing the hangar by a few feet while the south Atlantic tossed the ship around and flight and fire crews standing tall.

The call to "Brace, brace, brace!" after the seadart failed to fire, the 4.5 hammering away followed by short range weapons and a hollow bang as a 1000lb bomb passed through the ship but didn't detonate. Seeing a machinery room you know like the back of your hand twisted and filling with sea water and diesel, friends blocking the hole in the ships side with their bodies, lashing foam concentrate into the bilge to help prevent the diesel igniting from the 440v loose wiring, using softwood wedges, and mattresses to slow the ingress of water, patching up the various systems as good as we could, chattering teeth due to the cold and delayed shock, and being so tired it was difficult to sleep for a couple of hours before going on watch again.

Returning to Pompey and our families and friends.

Wow , how nerve wracking must that have been and something you will remember for the rest of your days , Many thanks for telling us 

[amateur]

12 hours ago, henry d said:

Generally 1982.

Hearing that the "Shiny Sheff" had been hit by an Exocet missile, getting a burst eardrum by our 3" rockets when trying to get the fire pump to them and seeing it in flames.

Watching a Sea king chopper land on one wheel on our flight deck to refuel (it's too big apparently) with the blades missing the hangar by a few feet while the south Atlantic tossed the ship around and flight and fire crews standing tall.

The call to "Brace, brace, brace!" after the seadart failed to fire, the 4.5 hammering away followed by short range weapons and a hollow bang as a 1000lb bomb passed through the ship but didn't detonate. Seeing a machinery room you know like the back of your hand twisted and filling with sea water and diesel, friends blocking the hole in the ships side with their bodies, lashing foam concentrate into the bilge to help prevent the diesel igniting from the 440v loose wiring, using softwood wedges, and mattresses to slow the ingress of water, patching up the various systems as good as we could, chattering teeth due to the cold and delayed shock, and being so tired it was difficult to sleep for a couple of hours before going on watch again.

Returning to Pompey and our families and friends.

It's enough to turn a man to religion

[kernel gadaffi]

1. Coming home from school aged 7 or 8 to find my mother asleep in her chair, I didn't want to wake her, so left her and watched the TV, my dad came home from work 20 minutes later, so I went into the kitchen to ask him to be quiet as mam was asleep, he went in to wake her up but couldn't, dad grabbed me and said, "can you go an see Mrs Watson (neighbour over the garden from us) for half an hour. A couple of hours later one of my sisters came to get me and I was told mam had gone to sleep, but was being looked after in hospital. It never accured to me what happened at the time, but one night many years later I had a nightmare when I was in the 40's and it was of that event. The following day I asked my eldest sister about it and was told our mother had tried to take her own life.

2. Although I can't remember this, but on 20th October 2016 I was in my local surgery and had a seizure, I was told I was attended to within seconds and paramedics were called, I was whisked to hospital and was making no sense at all, it was later found that I'd had a dissociative (non epileptic) that was caused by stress. I was asked questions about my life in the ambulance, name, date of birth etc, I thought is was 1984, I was 23 years old and unaware of so many things that had happened in my life. At the time I was acutally 55 and two months from my 56th birthday. I couldn't remember my mother dying, meeting my now ex partner and the birth of my kids. While I was in hospital, I had very excrutiating and shooting pains in the lower half of my right leg and had no idea why, my brain had partially formatted itself and removed many traumatic events, I wasn't aware that pains in my leg were the result of me crashing a motorbike in March 1986 and having it amputated, according to my ex, I was in one hell of a state.

The following day, I had another seizure and my partner was told "if I had another within the next 24 hours, it would be game over for me". Of course, I knew nothing about this and apart from what I'm told, I still have no recollection. Thankfully and to date, I've had no more, but it's a scary prospect.  Most of my memory from these moments, up to about 2 months following the seizures is gone and apart from the odd thing that pops into my head, will never return, so I can tell you I feels very strange having that void and the outfall of this, is I suffer from antreograde and retrograde amnesia.

3. Another incident I can't remember because of the amnesia happened on February 29th 2008, I was at work and the bosses had rejigged the office, moving desks, printers, phones, computers and there was cables and wires all over, I went behind one desk and didn't see a 4 plug extension (patrice?) and stood on it, it slid away and I fell bouncing my back on the corner of the desk and landing on the floor very contorted. I was terrified as I couldn't feel my legs and had pins and needles from my back to neck. Paramedics arrived after 45 minutes, by then my colleagues has pulled the desk apart to help them treat me. In the ambulance, I had two bottles of Entonox by the time I'd got to hospital. I was parked in a side ward, in agony and left there for 3 hours, I was asked if I wanted pain relief, I begged for it, but to this day, I'm still waiting. A doctor came to see me and arranged to send me for x-rays and a scan, this happend two hours later and the way I was handled was like being slung about like a sack of spuds.  11 hours later, at 10pm, a doctor decided I'd suffered soft tissue damage and could go home, by this time the feeling had returned to my left leg, but the remainder of the right leg felt numb and I had no idea how I could walk. I was pushed to my partners car and helped to get in it, getting out when I was bag home was going to be difficult. My partner went in the house and got me crutches, I managed to painfully turn myself and painfully drag myself upright, but I couldn't hold myself up with the crutches because of the pain in the muscles of my back, so I crawled into the house and into the settee. I hardly moved off the settee for a month, apart from having to go for treatment. 6 months later, a physio with a bit of common sense sent my for more scans and he worked out that I'd snapped 6 tendons that lead from the muscles in my back and connect to the facet joints on the spine and because of the time that had elapsed and the tendons had shrunk, it would be more or less  impossible to reconnect them and if it was attempted, the nerve damaged caused would leave me with a 95% chance of permanent paralysis, so I was not even given the option. From then on, I get horrible cramps in the stump, regular numbness and the horrible phantom pains which have been the bane of my life for over 35 years. 

I can't remember Diana's death, 9/11 and so many things between 1984 to early 2017.

Bloody scary.

 

[Scully]

10 hours ago, kernel gadaffi said:

1. Coming home from school aged 7 or 8 to find my mother asleep in her chair, I didn't want to wake her, so left her and watched the TV, my dad came home from work 20 minutes later, so I went into the kitchen to ask him to be quiet as mam was asleep, he went in to wake her up but couldn't, dad grabbed me and said, "can you go an see Mrs Watson (neighbour over the garden from us) for half an hour. A couple of hours later one of my sisters came to get me and I was told mam had gone to sleep, but was being looked after in hospital. It never accured to me what happened at the time, but one night many years later I had a nightmare when I was in the 40's and it was of that event. The following day I asked my eldest sister about it and was told our mother had tried to take her own life.

2. Although I can't remember this, but on 20th October 2016 I was in my local surgery and had a seizure, I was told I was attended to within seconds and paramedics were called, I was whisked to hospital and was making no sense at all, it was later found that I'd had a dissociative (non epileptic) that was caused by stress. I was asked questions about my life in the ambulance, name, date of birth etc, I thought is was 1984, I was 23 years old and unaware of so many things that had happened in my life. At the time I was acutally 55 and two months from my 56th birthday. I couldn't remember my mother dying, meeting my now ex partner and the birth of my kids. While I was in hospital, I had very excrutiating and shooting pains in the lower half of my right leg and had no idea why, my brain had partially formatted itself and removed many traumatic events, I wasn't aware that pains in my leg were the result of me crashing a motorbike in March 1986 and having it amputated, according to my ex, I was in one hell of a state.

The following day, I had another seizure and my partner was told "if I had another within the next 24 hours, it would be game over for me". Of course, I knew nothing about this and apart from what I'm told, I still have no recollection. Thankfully and to date, I've had no more, but it's a scary prospect.  Most of my memory from these moments, up to about 2 months following the seizures is gone and apart from the odd thing that pops into my head, will never return, so I can tell you I feels very strange having that void and the outfall of this, is I suffer from antreograde and retrograde amnesia.

3. Another incident I can't remember because of the amnesia happened on February 29th 2008, I was at work and the bosses had rejigged the office, moving desks, printers, phones, computers and there was cables and wires all over, I went behind one desk and didn't see a 4 plug extension (patrice?) and stood on it, it slid away and I fell bouncing my back on the corner of the desk and landing on the floor very contorted. I was terrified as I couldn't feel my legs and had pins and needles from my back to neck. Paramedics arrived after 45 minutes, by then my colleagues has pulled the desk apart to help them treat me. In the ambulance, I had two bottles of Entonox by the time I'd got to hospital. I was parked in a side ward, in agony and left there for 3 hours, I was asked if I wanted pain relief, I begged for it, but to this day, I'm still waiting. A doctor came to see me and arranged to send me for x-rays and a scan, this happend two hours later and the way I was handled was like being slung about like a sack of spuds.  11 hours later, at 10pm, a doctor decided I'd suffered soft tissue damage and could go home, by this time the feeling had returned to my left leg, but the remainder of the right leg felt numb and I had no idea how I could walk. I was pushed to my partners car and helped to get in it, getting out when I was bag home was going to be difficult. My partner went in the house and got me crutches, I managed to painfully turn myself and painfully drag myself upright, but I couldn't hold myself up with the crutches because of the pain in the muscles of my back, so I crawled into the house and into the settee. I hardly moved off the settee for a month, apart from having to go for treatment. 6 months later, a physio with a bit of common sense sent my for more scans and he worked out that I'd snapped 6 tendons that lead from the muscles in my back and connect to the facet joints on the spine and because of the time that had elapsed and the tendons had shrunk, it would be more or less  impossible to reconnect them and if it was attempted, the nerve damaged caused would leave me with a 95% chance of permanent paralysis, so I was not even given the option. From then on, I get horrible cramps in the stump, regular numbness and the horrible phantom pains which have been the bane of my life for over 35 years. 

I can't remember Diana's death, 9/11 and so many things between 1984 to early 2017.

Bloody scary.

 

Bloody hell! That’s a monumentous string of bad luck! 

[henry d]

Scary indeed