Parker stood before reporters last night, his eyes puffy and red. Pausing at times, he smiled as he talked about Emilie and remembered his last conversation with her: a brief chat before he dashed out for work on that terrible Friday.

“She woke up before I left. I’d been teaching her Portuguese. So her last conversation was in Portuguese. She told me good morning and asked how I was doing. Said I was doing well. She said that she loved me. Gave me a kiss and I was out the door,” Parker said.

Parker went to work — in the newborn intensive care unit of a local hospital. He says he and his wife haven’t come to grips with what happened and why.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” he said. “Her love and the strength she gave us and the example she showed us is remarkable. She is an incredible person and I’m so blessed to be her dad.”