Family for Beginners

She was lonely, but she’d never tell anyone that. If you admitted you were lonely, people assumed there was something wrong with you. The media talked about an epidemic of loneliness, and yet admitting that you felt that way was a statement of failure.

Life is too short to fill it with friends who don’t care about you or bring you joy. Moaners, the people who drain you or use you, flaky friends who never show up when they say they will—unless those flaky friends make you happy of course, in which case keep them. But bad friends are like the old clothes in your closet. They’re the stained shirt, the sweater with the hole in it, the dress that no longer fits. They have no place and should be cleared out.

Fortunately love isn’t finite. You don’t use it all up on one person. It’s like a river that keeps flowing.

And she realized that becoming a family wasn't something that happened overnight. It took baby steps, patience, understanding and a willingness to forgive when things went wrong.

Sometimes, all you need to give you a feeling of security is the knowledge that home is there for you. That the people you love are there for you. You don't need to be with them all the time.

It has always fascinated me that we're prepared to end a romantic relationship that is no longer working but are generally reluctant to do the same with friendships. Not all friendships are meant to last for life. People evolve, and friendships evolve with them.

Good sex isn't just about having the right parts. It's about intimacy and knowledge. For me, it's about caring. You can't buy that online. You can buy sex toys, of course. I bought a vibrator.

Grief is like being strapped to a bad fairground ride you never paid to go on.

As women, we often feel we have to put our needs at the bottom of the pile. But why are we less important than others?

The problem with being a family was that every member was affected by the actions of an individual.

Her mother had always emphasized that life was what you made of it, but Flora couldn’t help thinking that what you made depended on the raw ingredients you were given. Even the best chef couldn’t do much with moldy vegetables.