Despite all the friendly banter against England we all have as Scots, I was genuinely sorry for Gareth Southgate and the team on Sunday night.
They have been wonderful the past couple of weeks. The team spirit has been so incredible to watch.
Penalties are such a harsh way to decide on a winner. My heart went out to all three of the young players who missed penalties but especially to 19-year-old Bukayo Saka.
As he was the last to take a penalty, and the Italian celebrations started the minute he missed, he must have been particularly devastated. Seeing him crying on Gareth Southgate’s shoulder was heart-breaking.
A life-changing moment
Having a son who is older than him and many young singers his age, it really struck me how hard this would have been on him.
It’s a cruel game, really, isn’t it? No matter how successful you are, scoring a goal or missing one can be life changing.
One thing that is so sad is how many racist comments online have been directed at these three young men.
There has been talk of not allowing people to be anonymous on social media. Something has to be done.
Time to end racism – and social media abuse
Surely, we should all have to register our social media accounts in our own names with proper ID? It’s too easy for cowardly bullies to remain anonymous and therefore without fear of consequences, while hurling their vile racist abuse at people. They wouldn’t be so brave if their boss or families found out it was them.
Hopefully this small minority don’t detract from the pride that the majority of decent people feel for these boys.
Well done, England. It didn’t come home but you have done the UK proud.
Pinged by the NHS app
Speaking of home, I’ve been here all week.
I suddenly got pinged by the NHS Covid App and was told I’d been in contact with someone with Covid and I needed to self-isolate.
I did a Covid test straight away which was negative but obviously I followed the rules and stayed at home for the five days I was told to.
Of course, I was in good company because The Duchess of Cambridge had to return home from Wimbledon when she apparently got pinged. And apparently there was a huge surge in people being pinged.
The length of time you have to stay at home depends on the day the person you were in contact with registers a positive test result. Five days was easy really, we are used to staying at home now. It’s not such a big deal any more.
We have also got used to wearing masks. I’m sure none of us particularly like them but I for one have no intention of taking mine off on public transport.
It’s about two years since I had a cold or a sore throat. Never mind Covid, I love not having people sneeze and splutter in my direction while I’m sitting minding my own business.
As you know I’m a bit of a germaphobe anyway, so I don’t care what Boris says. To me the only good thing to come of being in a pandemic is that we are used to having a mask in our bags which we can whip out when we need to.
A constant reminder
It means a lot to me to hear from readers, and after last week’s column where I mentioned Gordon’s radiotherapy mask becoming a feature in our garden, I had a message from Ruth from Huntly who told me how different her story was.
When her husband Stuart finished radiotherapy, they decided not to keep the radiotherapy mask because Stuart sadly died last November. Keeping the mask would have been a constant reminder of the harrowing treatment he had to go through.
My heart goes out to Ruth and her family because our stories are so similar but we as a family are so fortunate to still have Gordon with us.
Live life to the full
We are all in this together, really. All of us going through our own worries and ups and downs. None of us travel through life unscathed and we never know what anyone else is going through or what we will have to go through in the future.
It just reminds us to live life to the full and to reach out to our friends when it’s their turn to struggle. I’m sending so much love to you Ruth.
Have a good week everyone,
Yvie x