Life, its’ changes and how it changes you.

2024 thus far has been a year full of tragedy and sadness - for me, for close family and for close neighbours. Never before has life taught me more blatantly that we can take nothing for granted; not tomorrow, not next week, not even the next few minutes.

I am not talking about one catastrophic event which has affected all these people. No, I am talking about numerous sudden, awful occurrences which have resulted, sadly, in serious illness, brutal surgery and in loss of life. In two instances this was hard on the heels of awful diagnoses that gave little hope, but it was still believed the people concerned would have some time left at least. Unfortunately, this did not turn out to be true.

Then we have the extremely vulnerable victim of crime, held practically at ransom for three or four days in her own home on my street, by two especially rancid individuals who were, thankfully, caught and arrested.

There are myriad other problems interwoven around all of this. I am not a child. I know life gets hard, it gets challenging and shit happens, but I have never known a time like it. The wonderful title, ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ comes close to describing it, if you were to swap the word ‘unfortunate’ for ‘tragic.’

Still, I am known for being something of a relentless optimist. Even now, I still hope that things can get better. That there can be some joy to come out of all this sadness. That the changes that are to come can bring good things with them, things that might otherwise have never been addressed. Time will tell.

I wanted to share my photo of this beautiful headstone, taken in a small cemetery in Laugharne. I don’t know whose final resting place this is, but I hope they are indeed resting in peace. The words seem to sum it all up perfectly.

I have been deliberately vague, not using names of the people I refer to. This is because I would hate to inadvertently add to anyone’s hurt. I hope that, should anyone close to them read this, they find some small comfort in this gentle epitaph, and know that I am thinking of them.

Take care everyone, life is short.

S P Oldham

Been away, going away…

I have just spent a lovely five days with my sister, helping to look after my nephew’s house, cats, dog and chickens in West Wales. A beautiful part of the world. Now I am home for ten days, before going away again, this time to Llanberis, with my oldest son, my youngest son and his wife, and our gorgeous little granddaughter! Lucky me!

I am editing at the moment, my new book due to be released around the end of September, with luck and a fair wind!

If you would like an ARC copy (download) in exchange for a timely, fair and honest review, just let me know below, or message me, whichever you prefer. It is another zompoc novel, my last for a while as I intend to move on to other things.

In the meantime, here is me on the beach at the stunning Pembrey Sands, because if there is not a photo, then we all know it didn’t happen!