How I Survived the Pandemic and Fell in Love with One Direction

by Sheri O'Sullivan

I love Harry Styles. No, not like that. Yuck, I’m 69 years old, he’s 27. I’m satisfied just knowing he’s alive in the world. He adds to it. Honestly, I love all the One Direction boys the same way: Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Harry (I have trust issues with Zayn Malik). These young men, without knowing it, helped me survive the Pandemic and much more.

My ‘quarantine’ started in March, 2019. My pain specialist had decided the year before to withdraw my treatment by reducing my medication each month. I was a chronic pain patient which means there wasn’t supposed to be a fix for my pain. When I was off all of the opioids the pain in my right hip and lower back became excruciating. I couldn't walk anymore and I needed a wheelchair. I was lucky, one was donated to my church.

By July, I was in constant, overwhelming pain 24/7. I asked for new x-rays of my hips. They showed my right hip socket was disintegrating and my right hip joint had gone further into my body by 1½". My doctor reviewed the x-rays and immediately referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who referred me to a back specialist. I had to have back surgery for a slipped disc before I could have the total hip replacement. It took forever, but I finally had an MRI done the first week of March, 2020.

We all know what happened then. The pandemic crushed all the hospitals. Elective surgeries were cancelled. I was in so much pain and so depressed, I couldn’t even clean my studio apartment. It was during this low point that my daughter, Crystal, suggested I watch YouTube videos of a show called Carpool Karaoke with James Corden. She thought the show would make me laugh again. It did.

I started watching the videos whenever I was on-line. That’s where I first met Harry Styles. When I saw the episode with Harry, I was intrigued. I liked his sense of humor, intelligence, and easy manner. I decided to investigate.

You can get lost on YouTube. You start watching one video, then another, and another, and when you take a break, four hours have passed. I fell into a never-ending river of Harry Styles videos, and this band, One Direction, kept showing up in the stream. I didn’t know Harry had been in another band.

One Direction or their nickname, 1D, was a band formed in 2010 with five young boys (ages 16-18) from working class families. Four are from Britain and one is from Ireland. I loved the music, their harmonies, and especially their personalities, but what really impressed me was how appreciative and respectful they were to their young fans.

I learned about One Direction from the present to the past. The first concerts I saw only had four guys: Liam, Niall, Louis, and Harry. So I was surprised when earlier concerts had five members. Then I discovered their movie, This is Us. Their screaming fans reminded me of Beatlemania and my youth. (I saw the Beatles at Candlestick Park on August 29,1966.) Tender, sweet memories. I’ll be a Beatle fan until the day I die. I bet 1D fans feel the same way.

I saw their start on Simon Cowell’s X Factor (British version of America’s Got Talent). I watched their individual auditions. I watched them be rejected, and I cried with them. Simon decided to call the boys back and put them in a group. They performed every week, and the crowds of young girls grew and grew and grew. They didn’t win. They came in third. It didn’t matter. 1D fans had already sent video clips from the show to girls all over the world.

The rest is music history. One Direction became a phenomenon. In 2012 they were the #1 Boy Band in the World. They performed in stadiums filled with 60,000 people. They even broke the Beatles’ record for the most #1 hits. Their first music video, What Makes You Beautiful, has over a billion views. Some of their videos have 900+ million views. I would watch Live While We’re Young, Love You Goodbye, and Girl Almighty videos and be happy for the rest of the day. Lucky for me I found them. Just around the corner there was more bad news.

One Direction songs were like love letters to their fans, mostly teenage girls going through that awkward stage of glasses and braces. As one fan said, “They say the things boys NEVER say to us.” Another young girl told Louis, “Because of you my parents have a daughter that’s still alive, so thank you.” Louis broke down with the girl and hugged her.

Each 1D member would, at every opportunity, profusely thank the fans for their support and the difference they’d made in their lives, and the lives of their families. In their Live TV show 1D performed Little Things. When the audience sings the lyrics with the boys there are shared heartbeats of love and appreciation. It is inspiring. They’ve never taken their fans for granted. More than six years later, those young girls have become women. And they’re still 1D fans. In 2021, their song, Story of My Life, sold 500,000 copies.

While One Direction was on their fifth tour Zayn left without notice. The remaining four guys finished the tour (their last one) because they felt they owed it to their incredible fans. They released their last album, Made In the A.M., and had four more hit songs from it.

I used to joke that if I didn’t have diabetes and high blood pressure I’d be as healthy as a vegan. I can’t make that joke anymore. I met with a new back surgeon in the fall of 2020. The country was doing so well, hospitals started accepting elective surgeries again. I had to get blood work done before the back surgery. The results showed I have Stage IV Chronic Kidney Disease with my kidneys functioning at 20%. At 10% it’s called End Stage CKD for good reason. That’s when dialysis begins and your life, as you know it, ends.

I have no right to it, but I’m as proud of these men as if they were my own grandchildren. I’m so grateful for their videos of concert performances, interviews, and especially their music for helping me through the darkest days of my life. Some days it felt like for every step I took life would knock me back three. Whenever I felt low and the pain was stronger than me, they made me smile, laugh, and even cry happy tears. When I felt defeated all I had to do was watch One Direction videos. It is sad to me that we had One Direction for only five years.

No longer boys, I have watched all the 1D solo videos. Harry won a Grammy for Watermelon Sugar (he should have gotten it for Sign of the Times, a much better song). Louis and Niall are incredible songwriters. “How shit changes, we were in love, now we’re strangers.” Straight to the point. That’s Louis’ Miss You from his album Walls. Two of Us is a masterpiece. Niall’s tune, Flicker, will bring tears to your eyes and Nice to Meet Ya will make you smile. Liam’s latest music video Sunshine (from the animated movie, Ron’s Gone Wrong) always lifts my spirits.

In May, 2021, I did the blood work for my hip replacement surgery. It revealed I have anemia, a common condition for people with severe kidney disease. I would need infusions for four weeks then shots to bring up my hemoglobin. The surgery was postponed, again.

It’s been a long, slow road. I had the back fusion surgery in November, 2020, and my hip surgery in July, 2021. I’m out of the wheelchair and learning to walk again. My numbers are excellent: A1c is 6.4, blood pressure is steady, and my kidneys are still at 20%. I’m still rocking out with 1D in all their many endeavors, and finding joy in simple mindfulness. I’m finally cleaning my apartment, and I count my blessings every day. I feel lucky.