Emmy

    When I was a kid I first saw Emmy Seegmueller as a threat.  We idolized our Uncle Bill.  He was an adventurous bachelor, who loved to travel, going to exotic places like “out West”, Alaska and Mexico.  He got to drive the tractor on my grandfather’s farm, he took us kids to movies, and let us play Chuck Berry and other rock & roll 45‘s from his collection on his record player.  Emmy seemed a threat to all those things because my Uncle Bill was going to marry her.  And it happened, Emmy Seegmueller became Emmy Schmidt.

    Of course, it all turned out differently than our young minds imagined, because we soon discovered  what Uncle Bill knew all along--that Emmy was a loving, warm, generous, and talented person.  It didn’t take her long to become the central organizer in most of our family’s activities.  She hosted and cooked delicious meals, and whenever there was a family event, it was usually because of her initiative.  

    We spent many a hour eating and visiting in the warm light of “Bud” and Emmy’s comfortable house.  Whenever Joan and I would travel down to Indiana,  once we had visited with our immediate family, we were always eager to drive down the road to see what Bud and Emmy were up to.

     Emmy was usually up to quilting.  She was a very talented and creative quilter, always having an intricate and colorful quilt on the go, and another one in the planning stage.  She and Bud especially loved to spend time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.   Their frequent camping trips eventually resulted in her getting a yearly gig, dressed as a pioneer woman, sitting on the front porch of a log cabin, quilting and explaining the skill to curious tourist.  She was wonderfully gregarious.

    Sadly Emmy died a couple of days ago.  I know our visits to Indiana will never be quite the same, because of the huge hole she leaves in our family.  We loved you Emmy.

You can see my painting "Hoosiers" featuring Emmy at:  www.davidmarchant.ca