Give a pup a home and a little love and he will give you his heart forever.

Sisters are different. They heard the sobbing in the darkness.
They lived through all your triumphs, all your favorites,
all your loves and losses. They have no delusions.
They lived with you too long.
And so, when you achieve some victory, friends are delighted -
but sisters hold your hands in silence and shine with happiness.
For they know the cost.

The trouble with sharing one's bed with cats is that they'd rather sleep on you than beside you.

The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions- 'it wasn't Jezebels fault, Dad.'

If there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.

When sisters stand shoulder to shoulder, who stands a chance against us?

Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience.

We shared. Parents. Home. Pets. Celebrations. Catastrophes. Secrets. And the threads of our experience became so interwoven that we are linked. I can never be utterly lonely, knowing you share the planet.

An older sister is a friend and defender -- a listener, conspirator, a counsellor and a sharer of delights. And sorrows too.

Friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil -- but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small silly presents every so often -- just to save it from drying out completely.

You took me to adventure and to love. We two have shared great joy and great sorrow. And now I stand at the gate of the paddock watching you run in an ecstasy of freedom, knowing you will return to stand quietly, loyally, beside me.

You never realize how much your mother loves you till you explore the attic -- and find every letter you ever sent her, every finger painting, clay pot, bead necklace, Easter chicken, cardboard Santa Claus, paperlace Mother's Day card and school report since day one.

If your sister is in a tearing hurry to go out and cannot catch your eye, she's wearing your best sweater.

Kittens are wide-eyed, soft and sweet. With needles in their jaws and feet.

A sister is the cure for swollen heads and ego trips. One may a star, a Chief Executive-famous and rich and beautiful. But one's sister has the family photo album. And a long, long memory. And a tendency to wink at one on Top Occasions.

A friend is the only person you will let into the house when you are Turning Out Drawers.

Bears being sent through the mail should never be squashed up to make them fit. It gives them indigestion.

We have become a society where the artist is regarded as a self-indulgent superfluity, and the person who juggles stocks and shares is an essential part of the economy.

Sisters share the scent and smells -- the feel of a common childhood.

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