God bless those that were'nt here to witness this.
[QUOTE=DaveSo;4723565]THAT day was different.
Firstly, my brother decided to fly home from Kuala Lumpa for the final. He wasn't at all the other recent losing finals.
On an impulse I picked up a picture of my Grandad who died suddenly as a youngish man way back in 1960. He was a Leither through and through and probably the reason our family are all Hibees. The picture was put in my back pocket so in effect we had four generations going to the game - my Grandad, my dad, me and my brother plus my two teenage sons.
We were also on a different supporters bus as the usual bus always ended up with misery on the way home.
So off we set but soon into the journey the driver tells us the bus is overheating and he is stopping in Livingston to await a replacement vehicle. Fortunately he stopped outside a pub so we all trooped in for refreshments !
It was agreed we would stay where we were and pass on the visit to Shettleston Juniors where we were booked in.
We were all happy with this at this change of routine, it was a good sign or so we kept reassuring ourselves.
So a few hours later we climbed into the new bus to get to Hampden. Once there we got parked up with help from the polis and my brother discovered we were right beside a flat he stayed in during the 1980's while at Uni so we trooped round to it so he could get a picture at its front door. No idea why but again it was different !
Our ticket arrangements were different this time as well. My dad and I had tickets for the South Stand while my boys and brother were in the East. Usually we are all together.
A family hug beside the rank food vans outside Hampden and we split up to get in at our different turnstiles. We agreed to meet at the same place after the game hoping our big change of cup final habits would bring a different result.
Five minutes in and Stoksey was on fire and terrified their defence as they let him run in unopposed to score. First time I had ever seen Hibs in the lead in a Scottish Cup final. Fantastic start and feeling.
As we all know now despite being the better team with numerous chances we were two-one down with 10 minutes to go. That familiar sick feeling was returning.
A few minutes later Liam Henderson takes a corner right in front of us and Stoksey nods it in and it's crazy in the stands. It was now the first time I had seen Hibs score two goals in a Scottish Cup final. Game on again.
And then into injury time it's another corner right in front of us. The noise just seemed to get louder and louder and as Liam Henderson fired in another pin point cross it seemed like a green and white exocet missile launched itself at the ball and it flew into the net. Cue absolute bedlam on a scale I have never seen or witnessed before and unfortunately I don't think will ever see again.
For the remaining two minutes my dad and I just hugged each other and I kept on saying "We're gonna win it, we're gonna win it" and then it was over. Similar to all of us it was an indescribable feeling of euphoria.
It was the first time any of us had seen Hibernian win the Scottish Cup.
Later after the Cup was awarded I pulled out the picture of my Grandad and showed it to my dad saying "your dads here and he seen us win the cup too". My dad just burst into tears as he really thought at age 69 he was never going to see this happen.
Back to the meeting point and this time a mad celebration group hug with my boys and brother.
THAT day was definitely different and it was the best ever ![/QUOTE
Just read your post, wish I hadn't, in floods of tears again.