The last occasions when the timetable of our lives would be interrupted for many years to come.

Even my aunt Joan, hopelessly sentimental about every member of our family, admitted that I was hideous.

It has not been an easy name, yet it has brought me many a laugh.

It has not been an easy cross to bear. It has caused considerable confusion. My husband constantly complained about the awkwardness of being married to a woman whom he called Sister.

Even the simplest wicker basket can become priceless when it is loved and cared for through the generations of a family.