There's only so much golf and sitting moping around I can take. How I miss Mary, this was never how I expected retirement to be actually I never expected to have to take retirement to have to look after her.
At first after she died I didn't do a lot, I spent so much of the time making the garden look pretty enough to even come close to good enough for Mary's memorial.
Soon enough though that was done and there was nothing left to do, I couldn't clean out the house and still can't. Everything is where Mary left it and that's good enough for me.
Day time TV is not really my thing and I wouldn't have gone mad along time ago if I'd have had to watch it. Instead of that I found a love for golf, before I put a bit in the garden for golf I used to go to the golf club down the road twice a year.

The thing I miss most about work is the socialising. I took it for granted when I was in the job but now I have no one really. That is except for Sandra. I've known Sandra since she was 14 when her dad died, then she came to work in my squad in the met. She was really supportive of me during the time Mary was dying and has been ever since. She comes over every once in a while just to make sure I'm okay and for a general catch up. Today though surprised me, I was out in the garden playing golf like normal and then from no where Sandra appeared and she didn't look too happy. I invited her in and made her a drink as she sat down and seemed in no particular hurry to tell me why she was here. She always turned up unannounced but never in the middle of a working day, actually rarely even on a work day.
"Jack, I made a mistake and now I need your help." This worried me more, she never needed help from anyone, at least that she admitted.
"Sandra, you're worrying me. What's happened?"
"I have to set up a unit to solve unsolved cases and I have to do it from retired coppers. This is where you come in, I don't know any of this lot. Will you help?"

And well now the rest is history. Life at UCOS is great and I wouldn't have it any other way.

A big thank you to one of my best friends Jen for the name idea and well just generally for everything!
Enjoy!