All You Need Is Love

Whether a relationship is passionate or platonic, imbued with romance or cemented in respect, love is the key. This Valentine’s Day, 11 people share their stories of devotion

- Kathryn Madden And Courtney Thompson

ALYCE & CAROLINE TRAN

SISTERS

As a seven-year-old, Alyce Tran (left) was not the jealous or jaded type. “I was incredibly excited the day Caroline was born,” she says. “As the story goes, my mum had been so horrified by my labour that she didn’t want to have any more children – but eventually she felt sorry for me as an only child, so I finally got a sister.” From that day forth, Caroline recalls being “obsessed” with her elder sibling. “I never wanted to leave her so I’d pull my mattress into her bedroom and sleep there.”

Over the years, the pair’s age gap has evened out (they often get mistaken for twins), and they’ve both grown into successful businesswomen – Alyce as the co-founder of The Daily Edited and In The Roundhouse, and Caroline as an in-demand stylist and brand consultant. They share a friendship group, often work and travel together, and were housemates for six years – though that time around, Caroline stayed put in her own room. “It’s kind of flipped now,” she teases Alyce. “I feel like you have separation anxiety. She’s always texting me; she has me on Find My Friends and she tracks where I am.” Their constant contact – not to mention their clothes-sharing – mimics that of best friends, but it’s more than that. Says Alyce, “It’s unconditional love.”

NED HENDERSON & MICHELE PETERS

GRANDSON & GRANDMA