Reflecting now, the phrase “our parents’ best” reads as both tribute and mirror. It honors Sawyer and the specific achievements that brought pride, but it equally honors my parents—for their steadiness, for the small daily acts of care that produced conditions where potential could be recognized and developed. The story is thus reciprocal. Sawyer’s gains are evidence of parental labor, and parental pride is evidence of Sawyer’s responsiveness. Each validates the other.