“Am I,” the young woman asked me as we walked along, “Am I anything like her? Like your Jody?”
I was hesitant for a while before answering, “I don’t know. I mean, you don’t look a thing like her. But you’re smart like she was-will be. And, well,” I stopped and looked at her, saying what suddenly came into my mind, “Maybe there is a way you’re like her. It-” I choked up a little, thinking back, “It never took long for Jody to be in charge in whatever room she was in. And it was never that she took over. It was like everyone there-all of us-almost instinctively realized she was the one who should be charge.” I started walking again and, after a bit, added, “I can’t help but thinking she’s really the one who should be here. That if she were here, she’d know exactly how to fix things.”