Ella was 5 years old when her family moved from Los Angeles to Boulder, Colorado. Her parents wanted a more peaceful place to call home, away from the traffic, pollution, and gun violence in their neighborhood, and life in the mountains turned out to be just as magical as they had hoped — full of family ski trips and hikes. Ella’s dad would often come home from work and tell Ella and her brother to round up the neighborhood kids for a game he called “Monster.” He’d chase them all around, pretending to be scary. Of course, to Ella and to all of them, he was anything but.

As she grew up, Ella’s dad continued to be one of the most important supporters in her life. When she moved from Colorado to New York for college, he’d often visit and hide Post-its with cheerful messages aroun

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