I love all my five grandchildren. But one brings a special joy

Love recognises uniqueness and takes different forms even in the same family.

- Daniel Fung

I have five grandchildren, and I love them all. But if I am completely honest, and honesty is where joy begins, one of them brings me a special kind of joy.

That joy is difficult to describe. It isn't the quiet contentment of being loved, or the pride of watching a child grow. It is more like a spark, a resonance, as if two personalities click in perfect rhythm. It feels co-created, like jazz: unpredictable, playful, more than the sum of its parts.

She came into my life before she was even born. I still remember the long flight to Toronto for an international child psychiatry meeting at which I was getting an award. My daughters travelled with me, one carrying her six-month-old, the other six months pregnant with the girl who would become my inspiration. In that sense, she journeyed with me even before she took her first breath.

When she was born, a tiny, fragile, early arrival, she seemed to hum with restless energy. As a toddler, she was in perpetual motion, exploring every nook and cranny, utterly unafraid.