OK, if I’m completely honest, since I’ve been quite ill just before my half-century, at the end of 2016, I realised that I hadn’t ever got around to passing on the stories of my childhood to my children; that cluster of experiences and characters from my past that have “helped” me become the person that their father is today.
Memories of a childhood in late 60s and 70s Llanelli is considered within, though they’ll possibly be of no consequence to others, I hope that my girls find them of interest. This entanglement of belonging and of being are what has made me who I am and how I am.
I’ve never written a book before, though I’ve created one many times and at many stages of my life in my head. English is not even my mother tongue. Welsh has and always will be more comfortable for me, though I’ll try to make Dr Martin Rhys, my English teacher, who I both revered and feared at Ysgol y Strade, proud.
The childhood memories noted here are true from my perspective. Any factual mistakes are there because that’s how I remember them happening. None of the content is aimed at upsetting anyone, but I’m sure it will. “Que sera, sera,” as Myngu Norman used to say.
I’ve kept some personal stuff out, which if included, would create a fuss and shadow all my recollections. I’ve lived with them long enough as it is, though they may surface unintentionally in my writing.
Enjoy the reading, and enjoy the memories – I’ve enjoyed organising them into some sort of order, so that my children may understand why I am as I am, and for people that know me to have the option of crossing the road when they see me heading towards them!
Lastly, after you’ve read the book, consider this quote from Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) in his memoirs The Summing Up in 1938: “There is an impression abroad that everyone has it in him to write one book; but if by this is implied a good book then the impression is false”.
