I couldn't have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother's death. The renewed energy the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.

My siblings are my best friends.

Having lots of siblings is like having built-in best friends.

God bless you if you have one child but I don't think anybody should have just one child. Everybody needs a sibling. I have siblings and I have so many amazing precious memories with my siblings. I don't know what I would do if I had been an only child.

My siblings and I were friends with the boys who would become our stepbrothers - we grew up on the same street. I feel very special to have these amazing people in my life and if we hadn't all moved into this big house together I think I would have missed out on that because we would have drifted apart.