A cat can maintain a position of curled up somnolence on your knee until you are nearly upright. To the last minute she hopes your conscience will get the better of you and you will settle down again.

A teddy bear does not depend upon mechanics to give him the semblance of life. He is loved - and therefore he lives.

Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there. Defending you against all comers.

Sisters never quite forgive each other for what happened when they were five.

Dads don't need to be tall and broad-shouldered and clever. Love makes them so.

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, singers of songs.

A bag of apples, a pot of homemade jam, a scribbled note, a bunch of golden flowers, a coloured pebble, a box of seedlings, an empty scent bottle for the children. . . . Who needs diamonds and van-delivered bouquets?