By the time their light hits here, their scene “over there” will be so different. Instead of relying on those distant cues, we need to be guided by our own research — inspired, perhaps, by traces of what came before, but not dependent.

Glimmers, sparkles from a universe with some similarities, more differences. Traces to shape our own civilization and smile at our cousins.

The upside of recurrent illnesses may be an uninhibited clarity, running outside in your gown and declaring something bold and unfathomable (at the time) to the world.

And so we’ll evolve differently, along our own paths.