Hi citizens, it’s been a while! Life has been… a lot these past few months. I had to spend this whole summer in Ireland instead of going home to Ukraine like I usually do. But (obviously ☹) because of safety reasons and the fact that I’ve been juggling jobs for the last few months, it was probably for the best that I stayed here. Keeping very busy, but I’m just so happy to be alive and be able to do this.
I’ve been told about the news of COB sadly wrapping up in a couple of weeks from now… So, I figured I should write something before we have to say goodbye to Boomtown. Especially because it helped me during such a dark and confusing period of my life.
It’s been a little bit more than two years since I properly discovered CoB. It was time in my life where it seemed that the world was ending. Well, mine did anyway. The panic and the confusion surrounding the first weeks of the war at home, all my friends leaving Kyiv to different cities and countries, general tension in my family… I mean, war would be a lot for anyone, but for my 17 year old self? I mean fucking hell, we just got out of Covid lockdowns and straight into this shit!
At that point in time, so many people that I used to speak to everyday were gone from my life. Internet friends I’ve talked to for years and years at that point. And honestly, with the shit they told me it was probably for the best. “You used to be so funny, why the fuck do you only talk about the war now? I don’t want to hear this, it’s very upsetting to me!” This was the last thing I needed to hear when my family made the choice to evacuate from Kyiv to a different city, where we knew absolutely no one and depended on pure luck to find someplace to stay.And all it took for my life to change was an email sent in an act of desperation. I didn’t think it would work, really. Like I said a while ago… I was pretty convinced that I would literally be dead the next day. Imight as well let my favourite band know that there used to be this one kid in Ukraine who was a fan, right?! And thankfully I didn’t actually die before the message got through. When I opened my inbox and saw a response from Pete, I had to take a moment to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
Boomtown was a place where I knew I could go and have people hear me out no matter what was going on, and support me in my situation. Logging on every day and seeing your comments under the emails Pete shared from me was the best feeling ever - knowing that somewhere out there in the world, thousands of kilometres away from Ukraine, there were people who cared for me and my story. When I had no one else in life, you guys helped me to keep going. And of course, I’ll never be able to thank Pete enough for everything that he helped me with. Just having someone understanding to keep talking to during this shit time made it so much easier for me. And after all, Pete was the person who - at last - convinced me that going to Ireland for my studies may not be such a bad idea. Of course, leaving my old life in Ukraine and dropping out of my old university would be difficult, but who knew for sure! It might be a good place for me, right?
Flash forward, a little over two years have passed since then. My life has changed in so many ways. I’ve been living in Dublin for TWO WHOLE YEARS (!), continuing my studies in film and getting odd jobs here and there in the industry. I’m currently working on something that I can’t exactly talk about because of like five different NDAs they told me to sign, but I can only say this - I’m so lucky I get to be a part of this. And I’m even luckier just to be here in Dublin and get to experience all these wonderful (and sometimes not so wonderful) things that are happening to me.
And hell, if I stayed back in Ukraine, I would probably never get out to see the Rats themselves, and meet some of you lovely people in person! Every time I get out of Dublin for a gig is something very special. I’m very much looking forward to all the upcoming concerts for next year. Here's a couple of lovely pics of myself and some familiar faces (wink wink) at Bob’s solo concert in Norway last July.
It’s far more than just about the music now - it’s about getting to catch up and hang out with everyone again! And I absolutely love getting to travel for the gigs, for example I’ve always wanted to go to Norway but never found the right time for it… That was until I heard that Bob’s solo band would be playing there, that’s when I thought to myself - why the hell not?! And I have a blast every single time, despite my constant awkwardness and my “incredible” social skills… But oh well, thank you for taking me in anyway! :D
At the end of the day, it’s really sad to see CoB go, but this place really means a lot to me and I will always remember it. Thank you all so much for following my journey from my first day here and up to now. I've come a long way from being a scared and lonely kid with no hope for the future, many, many thoughts, and a laptop. I think so, anyway.
But hey, I’m very much looking forward to seeing all the changed on the official Rats website and celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary with the rest of you!
Until then, thank you and goodbye! (But not really, I’m not going anywhere for now OK!)
Signing off for the last time,
Major Paul
I'm so glad that the Boomtown Rats helped you, too, Paul ~ your posts were the reason I first commented on Citizens of Boomtown. I'm so glad you and your family are okay and I'm always sending good thoughts your way. Congratulations on the project you're working on! You will definitely make all of your dreams come true. Any time things get hard, if a song catches your ear on the radio or anywhere at all that you are ~ listen to it because it's showing you the way. I'm SO glad the Boomtown Rats showed you the way and for all of the fun things we got to do as a part of Citizens of Boomtown.
Love,
Jennifer 🌻
Thank you for sharing...xxx