THE FIRST HALF OF MAY - Part 5 of 12
So, where to start in a truly monumental, massive month
where so much went on…
Well, as the song goes, let’s start at the very beginning.
May 1st, takeover day and the day I become an employee again. It was
a Friday and largely uneventful, the day being taken up with administrative
stuff, making sure all clients’ money was sent across accurately and reconciled
correctly. After work we all toasted the 28 years of FWG and welcomed in the
start of a new era.
May 2nd saw Southend United’s day of destiny in
the North West of England with their trip to Morecambe and the Globe Arena.
Weather wise, it was absolutely not May 2nd unless you happen to be
in the Russian district of Oymyakonsky (officially one of the coldest
permanently inhabited locales on the planet) and it rained constantly, making
it an even more “interesting” experience. Without going into massive detail, we
went 1-0 down early, equalised, threw everything at Morecambe only to get caught on
the break – twice – and lost 3-1. This would have been enough to secure
promotion if Bury had lost, but surprise, surprise, they didn't. Play-offs for
us then. We did have a good day out though and the match shall be forever known
as “The game what we lost” (see what I did there?).
The weather down south was distinctly different and on the
Sunday, Dawn suggested a walk in the woods as she had a bit of a headache. Off
we went on this bright, early summers day, chatting, carefree, contemplating Southend’s play-off chances and the
potential General Election result when all of a sudden,.. BANG! CRACK!
Then a scream.
I got up from the deck to discover a pile of debris on the
floor next to me with Dawn on her knees a few feet away, clutching her skull
and in obvious agony. Some dead wood had fallen from the boughs of the tree, some 30
feet or so above us, landing straight on top of us as we walked underneath. I escaped with a
couple of scratches but Dawn got clumped “good and proper” on the noggin,
meaning a trip to A&E with her neck being put into a brace. This also meant
she missed taking her eldest, Megan, out for her 18th birthday meal
we were due to have later that day.
This confined Dawn to bed for a few days where she was able
to fully take on board how lucky she had been and also consider the plight of
the poor Nepalese people who had their habitat decimated in the massive earthquake
the month before. She used her enforced non-working time to pull together as many people
as she could to put on a fund raiser for Nepal, which raised nearly £4000. A
cracking effort.
As for Dad, he was going along as before and had had some
railings installed in the garden so he could walk up and down without fear of
falling, he really was getting frail now.
Southend's first play-off semi-final came around and they
eked out a 1-1 draw at Stevenage, with the second leg being at Southend's home,
Roots Hall, on May 14th. This was an incredibly tense affair, with
Southend initially going 1-0 down, equalising and then missing a last second
penalty to send the game into extra time. In one of the most dramatic matches I
have ever witnessed, we eventually wrapped up a 3-1 win and won through to get
to the Wembley play off final against Wycombe on May 23rd, but not
before some major scares!
No liquid celebrations took place that night – save that for
winning at Wembley - and I went to bed, delirious on the ecstasy of what I had
witnessed earlier. The following morning
I awoke, and the room immediately went on tilt. I felt incredibly dizzy for a
few seconds, and then it passed. Thinking maybe I had got up too quickly, I
carried on and got ready for work, but this pattern continued throughout the
day. I called my GP (a very rare occurrence I might add) and spoke to the
receptionist, with the conversation going something like this :
Me – “Can I make an urgent appointment to see the doctor
please, I really feel quite odd.”
Receptionist – “I'm sorry, appointments are about 7-10 days
away unless it’s an emergency. Is it an emergency?”
Me – “Well, all day I have felt dizzy and swimmy, the room
keeps going sideways and I haven't had anything alcoholic to drink. You tell
me; is that an emergency?”
Receptionist – “Hang on.”
<Pause>
“Doctor says come in immediately.”
Bloody hell.
No comments:
Post a Comment