AFF was the first place I made real friends who stayed my friends. The first place I where I was able to explore and understand myself safely...
It wasn't the closing of a forum...it was a severing of contacts, and the fear of never speaking to someone you love again. The fear of no longer having that 'safe place' you've grown so attached to. And the anxiety that someone you love needs support and now cannot find it. Yes, that kind of loss can make someone's world go to shit.
But there is less uncertainty now, as we have been finding each other and will simply rebuild.