Someone to watch over you
My wife used to watch over us. We loved spending time outdoors as a family, going to the beach or just hanging around the pool. Melissa loved reading and watching people. She wouldn’t mind looking after things whilst the kids and I went off to play in the waves, play on the rocks, catch fish with those little nets, kick the ball around, dig a trench to the water, go on the water slides or ride the roller coasters. She would take photos of us and then tell us all the stories of what she saw whilst we were gallivanting around. We always had photos of our fun times. Our things were always there with her when we returned. And then one day she wasn’t there to watch over us any more. A big Melissa shaped hole was punched throughout our lives from that moment onwards. She was the most resourceful person I’d ever met. She was a gardener, could sew, crochet, made all sorts of crafts, played jazz piano, baked and cooked the most delicious things, was a chartered accountant and was pretty good at putting any flat pack piece of furniture together.
Without Melis we faced many challenges. I wasn’t equipped to solve the emotional challenges, but have a practical mindset so I tried to keep myself busy fixing things around the house or making things for other people because that’s all I could do. I tried to help other people, because I couldn’t help myself. But DIY was bittersweet… it wasn’t the same without Melissa. December 2023 was the first real beach holiday we had without Melis. Without someone to watch our things meant that we could not enjoy the beach like we used to. Two of us would go swim, or play with the ball or go get an ice cream, whilst someone stayed watching our valuables. We cut our days on the beach short because it got boring for the one that always had to stay by the towels. Some mornings the kids would sleep late so I would go down to the beach by myself, but couldn’t venture further than my ankles into the sea, staring back at my towel to make sure that nobody took my car keys and phone. I thought to myself that surely there must be some product out there that can help keep people’s valuables safe on beaches and other public spaces… So I approached my dad who is a boilermaker by trade and started working on solving this problem.