When I wrote a composition in 1952 whilst at school in St, Albans my teacher was so impressed that he said I should write for a living. I always enjoyed creative writing, my father and Grandfather were both writers. I can honestly say that this has been by far the toughest assignment of my life. I am falling apart though my brain is still functioning at times. This is not a self-indulgent sob story. It is, for me, an inspiring uplifting true tale of how even though all is lost, it pays to keep going. I have written bits and pieces through the years. I have started this book more than once, though I have never completed anything, except for an account of an around the world cyclist and his girlfriend, which I had published in our local paper. I have created non profitable websites and written blogs, but now I am fulfilling my lifetime dream to leave behind a record of my shenanigans, my disasters, triumphs, and traumas to rise above it all and to say, I am here. I am alive and still looking forward to writing the sequel. Who in there right mind attempts to write his first full length book at the age of eighty-four. Yours truly Robert J, Gawley. 19-08-1939