I've been lucky, born in a peaceful country, at a time of relative prosperity and into a not-too-poor family. My Dad was working for the Government and Mum, a stay-at-home wife.
We were provided with a large rambling house and I grew up chasing geckos from room to room. This, I got from black and white photos, now yellow with age. I recall little of my early youth; it must have been happy and safe, as I bear no scars.
Three years after I was born, my brother came along and sister not long after. We had moved by then, into a modern house in the middle of a new housing estate on the outskirts of town, surrounded by uncles, aunts and cousins.
I do remember having to drive past a cemetery on the way to town and at night, the tombstones sparkled with an eerie glow.
