After the camping accident that killed her mother and injured her father, Emma feels it is her responsibility alone to take care of her surviving family, particularly as she feels guilty of inadvertently causing the accident. Emma devotes her life to caring for her father and acting like a mother to her younger sister, so much so that it often gets in the way of her living out her dreams and taking chances on herself. Charlie criticizes her for not taking chances in her career or pursuing opportunities like a prestigious internship she was offered, yet Emma was unable to do these things because she was taking care of her father. It takes a lot of convincing from her father and Sylvie to make Emma go to LA for what they see as one of the biggest opportunities of her lifetime. Even so, Emma argues that Sylvie should not give up her dreams to help her sister. To this idea, Sylvie responds, “You hear yourself, right?” (18), knowing how many opportunities Emma has given up for her.

Emma’s commitment to caregiving leads her to overlook self-care. Emma feels such guilt and anxiety about leaving her father in Sylvie’s care when she goes to LA that she forgets to eat for two days, leading her to faint when she arrives at Charlie’s house.