At My Parents’ Anniversary Party, One Insult—and One Letter—Changed Everything

a messy bun, muttering to herself as she poured water through yet another prototype.

Sometimes it worked. More often it didn’t.

We tested each iteration with simple kits: drops that changed color based on contaminant levels, cheap digital meters ordered online. When a design failed, Emma wrote down what went wrong, circled it, and said, “Okay, so that continue reading …