I was eleven years old when my father first decided to run away with the bank's money, it was the first of many times. When he ran we all had to run, all of his seven children, we ran for three years, three years of indescribable shame and embarrassment, living on the road in whatever we had, caravan, tent, chicken shed we tried them all until the church stepped in to help.When I started work I met Pat, I first saw her when I was 15 years old, she did not know I existed for the next two years although I saw her every day, she was my strength and my sanity for 36 years, she suffered with depression for many years and her life was not easy. When I was 19 I joined the Police force in Brighton, after two years I was prosecuted for perjury, an offense with a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, I had a young baby, a new wife and looking at a 14 year stretch, how would they survive without me? I was always a gambler, winning and losing millions of dollars, I would win over a million dollars in a week and then lose it all the next week, over the years it was good to me and it bought Pat many nice gifts. We left England for Australia in 1986, we settled in Perth, Western Australia, a magical place and a place that helped Pat with her depression for a while, until it resurfaced a few years later and set her on a downward path with no end in sight. My choice of job when I left school, or rather the only job available for the likes of me was an apprenticeship in a supermarket, it was a job that served me well on and off over the years. I was never out of work, my father was a lazy man, he rarely ever worked and I never wanted to be like him, I always provided for my family although I was never happy living to excess.I was never satisfied with one woman, I loved my wife very much but the jobs that I had in my life always bought me into contact with girls and I could never resist the temptation.I was always conscious of the effect that I had on girls and I made the most of it.Most of my friends are women, I find the fairer sex far more interesting than a macho male. The very first lady that I felt any kind of love for was Denise Robbins, she was a prolific writer of romance novels, she wrote hundreds of books under may different names, I worked as her gardener, I was fourteen when I met her and she was sixty five, what a wonderful lady she was, very famous but you wouldn't know it, she was a normal person who treated me very well. I did much traveling alone in my later life, mostly around Asia as a very old backpacker. Cambodia was my most memorable trip, seeing the Angkor temples was something I will never forget. I now live in the Philippines. My two children still live in Perth but sadly, I don't have much of a relationship with either of them. My mentor and one of the most important people in my life was Miss Machonachie, my English teacher for a few months when I was 15 years old. I was a shy introvert with no confidence and no social skills, I was a mess from many years of running away from dads debts and being dragged all around the country. She saw something in me and slowly helped me to understand something of myself, she gave me confidence and taught me very important lessons that helped me to build a life for myself.Life at Slaugham in Sussex taught me about the beauty of nature and how to be at one with the birds and the trees, the smells and the sounds. My school trip to the Austrian Tyrol when I was fifteen was a big thing for someone like me, I worked and paid for it all myself which made it all the more enjoyable and it taught me how interact with other kids my age for the first time. My life didn't start until I left school, I didn't learn anything at school but I have certainly learned much since. I have had a wonderful and exciting life, successful in some area's and found wanting in others, mostly happy with some sadness, I have met good people but I have met too many evil people, the problem is they all look