ICE

Some time ago, I heard something on the radio about what a good idea it was to have someone in your mobile phone contacts list with the letters ICE in front of their name, so that in the unlikely event of a)you being in an accident that incapacitated you but did not wreck your mobile and b) you not having some kind of PIN on your phone that would prevent random strangers getting at your contacts list, they would know who to call In Case of Emergency.

Being a responsible soul, I decided I would do this and did not hesitate as to whose number to put in. Jacqui's. Of course.

Jacqui is my big sister. Not my eldest sister (I'm the youngest of three girls), but my big sister. Dating back, I think, to adolescence, Jacqui has looked after me. It's Jacqui that will leave voicemail messages saying "Just checking up on you; haven't heard from you for a bit..." It's to Jacqui's house, 300 miles away from my own, that I run when my world gets shaken and I need to hide. She knows me inside out and miraculously still seems to love me. In Case of Emergency, I call Jacqui.

Jacqui is generous, hospitable, a wonderful mother to my niece and nephew, has a heart of gold, a cheeky sense of humour, a rock-solid faith and an understated but beautiful taste in jewellery.

Like this bracelet, which she bought for me some years ago and then liked it so much she bought another for herself. I may have got the order of those events wrong but I'm sure you get the message.

Happy Birthday, Jacqs. x