learned to walk later than Emily because she spent months watching everyone else first.
She studied balance.
She studied feet.
She studied how people shifted their weight.
Then one day, she simply stood and walked as though she had completed a research project.
Emily never studied anything first.
Emily launched herself into life.
She walked early.
Then immediately started running.
She fell constantly.
She got back up instantly.
If the world refused to catch her, she apparently considered that the world’s problem.
She laughed loudly.
She spoke to strangers.
She climbed things she had absolutely no business climbing.
My father used to call the girls an ecosystem.
Once, while Emily attempted to climb a tree and Lily stood underneath giving her technical advice, Dad laughed and said,
“You can’t remove one of them. They only make sense together.”
Carl laughed too.
He loved those girls with his entire heart.
And
