As always, to my children, Tina, Fabian and MarieClaire.

Just being your mother has been my greatest achievement.

All else pales into dust.

To the memory of the girls who shared the last days of my childhood. Though it was brief, and gave me a glimpse of being a child, even as it vanished, I still treasure it. There is, in a little corner of my heart specially reserved, a place where you sit, and in my mind’s eye you will always be young.

To Sister Eleanor,
I salute you for your goodness.

To Mary Dunne, my friend.

Thank you, Mary, for your friendship.

To Gerry (Ger) Keegan and Seamus (Shea) Reid, the last of the great Irish wits. Thanks, fellas, for all the laughs.