I'm Back - Personal Update

[Ben]

Hello everyone! First, I would like to apologize for my prolonged absence and negligence! When rplass contacted me to advise that the site was down, and had been for several days, it lit a fire under my butt to get involved once more in this fantastic community. For those who don't know me, I'm Ben Wells. I live in Price Edward Island Canada. I've been involved in the Alpha Flight online community since the age of 16, which was almost 30 years ago. I started basic Alpha Flight fan pages at that age, which eventually evolved into this community. Second, I want thanks, from the bottom of my heart all the work that has been done by rplass, Phil and Le Messor for keeping things alive. I know it's not as vibrant and active as it has been, but please rest assured, I will be taking time and putting in effort to make updates to the site to return it to it's former glory. I also want to thank all the members who have been contributing over the years. It's the Alpha Flight community that inspired me to make this site in the first place, and it's the community that I will be putting forefront in my efforts to breath new life into things. Last, I'd like to provide a personal update for everyone. Over the past several years, things have been a little difficult for me. I've been playing musical careers since COVID began. I left my longtime job as a Restaurant Manager. I realized during the lock-downs that I had not been prioritizing my family enough. I had been working up to 70 hours a week, was constantly exhausted. I got out of touch with my wonderfully patient wife and my quickly growing up son. During lock-down I rediscovered my joy for my family. My wife and I were spending time together, and loving it. I taught my son to drive, which was amazing, with next to no cars on the roads, we had the entire island at our fingertips, and gas was cheap! From there I was offered a management position with a local wholesale company, using my restaurant experience. For some time things were OK there, however there were circumstances that eventually lead me to have a mental health breakdown. I left my job on medical leave. For almost a year I was in very bad shape, and was suffering from major depression. I worked with my doctor to find a medication that worked for me. I went through some very dark times with meds that were not working, and meds that made things exponentially worse. Eventually we found a combination of meds that worked, and was able to climb out the well. Last summer I returned to the restaurant world, but in a new capacity. I started cooking professionally, in a wonderfully low-stress environment. This helped me to further my healing, and I am doing quite well now. My family has been amazing through it all, and I am grateful for them every day! My son is now 19 years old, which is 3 years older than with I first joined the online AF community. There it is in a nutshell, and I want to finish with this: I'M BACK BABY! Ben

[-K-M-]

Love it! Thank you Ben for the courage sharing your personal challenges, but also letting us know your very optimistic update and you’re doing much better. Really glad to hear that Been an active member for many many years here so appreciate all your efforts and the moderators (Phil, Rplass, etc) keeping the community going. Onwards and upwards

[Le Messor]

Hey Ben,
As I keep saying, it's great to have you back. (I don't think I did that much to keep this site alive, tbh, but thanks for the kudos.)

As much as we've missed you, your family and your mental health are more important in your life than we are. If it comes to them or us - choose them, every time.

Still, it's good to hear from you.

~ Mik

[Tawmis]

First and foremost, glad you were able to come through the other side, and face the darkness.
And secondly, welcome back.