When the miracle of twins lay there in the sawdust and the ewe licked them off, urging them to stand for their first meal, I looked at Dad. His eyes shone as blue as chicory flowers and his face was wet with tears. “No human can create a beginning, Nora,” he said, “and no human can create an end. It’s all in God’s hands.”

I learned some of life’s most important lessons from my father while caring for sheep.