On Thursday morning ten days ago, my sister’s world changed forever. She went to wake her 20-year-old son and found him unresponsive, kneeling on the floor by his bed. Any death is a terrible thing, but an unexplained death is even worse. The death of a child or a young…

All actions have consequences… I liked Lynette. She was attractive in a blonde, Sharon O’Neil Asian Paradise, shark-tooth necklace way but more striking was that she was the first girlfriend I’d ever had who kept everything to herself, even secrets. She had a cool boyfriend, Graham, who, to my 20-year…

When a nightmare is actually a reality It was Easter Monday morning in 2010. I had plans to drive from my home in Upper Hutt to my friend Patricia’s farm on the outskirts of Carterton in the Wairarapa. As well as being my boss and an astute businesswoman, Patricia was…

We should do what we have to do to be happy — I was sitting with my work-buddy and friend, let’s call him Jordan, in the late afternoon sun on the steps of Atlanta, on the Terrace in Wellington. It was a Friday late in summer, one of those rarest of days in Wellington when it is warm because there is no…

What we leave behind are the memories we leave with others A few years ago a friend asked me if he should write a book about his life. I thought carefully before I replied. …