I caught Buffy on Sky1 in 1997 (if memory serves) during season 1. The first episode I saw was Invisible Girl. Now retrospectively i'm not season 1's biggest but the writing and the dialogue got nine year old me hooked. I loved how the characters spoke. The little whedonisms. It was like nothing I'd ever heard or have subsequently on TV. It felt so real and i was hooked.
By the time season 2 came around ten year old me was going through some of the darkest times of my life. And the escapism of Buffy really helped me keep my head up and assured me I was not alone. When Giles looked at a teary eyed Buffy in Innocence and said
... If it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is my support. And my respect...
I imagined if I had a father...thats what he'd say to me. And it gave me enormous strength. As Giles became Buffy's surrogate father so in a way he became mine and gave me an altogether more positive view of men. Meeting Tony at Hallowhedon felt like a reunion and I completely understood when the two sisters in front of me broke down in front of him explaining how Buffy had helped them out of some dark times. Which Tony met with a loving embrace. My surrogate did not disappoint.
Buffy helped me see beyond my shit life at the time and believe that there were in fact creative, intelligent, kind and loving people out there like in Buffy. I had just yet to meet them, but I would and I'm thankful to say, I have.
Buffy was my life. My walls were covered in posters, I would religiously watch episodes (on tape, oh yeah) and obsess constantly. Throughout the chaos that was my childhood. Buffy was the one stability.
The way music takes other people back to a point in their lives. That's how I am with Buffy. People have albums they consider to be the soundtrack to certain periods of their lives. Well Buffy is the soundtrack to my life (more specifically my adolescence) and it taught me so much about myself and I'm forever thankful to Joss for that...