The tickle monster
Sarah Wallace, 39, Newtownabbey
Clutching a pink plastic bucket, I skipped happily along the beach. It was summer 1987 – and aged 4, crabbing with my mum’s new boyfriend Robert, then 26, was my favourite thing.
My mum, then 41, had split with my dad when I was a baby. I’d had no relationship with him, so it was exciting to have a father figure in my life.
‘You’ve caught one!’ Robert cheered as I plopped a crab into my bucket.
I grinned, delighted to have impressed him.
He’d moved in quickly, but he’d help round the house, take me and my three
