Emily Sue was conceived by my Mother, Mary Freyvogel McDonnell, who wrote a poem about an indecisive little girl for a college creative writing class in 1950.

In 1999 Mom rewrote the poem for her granddaughters. The girls and I read it and fell in love with the waffling heroine. Mom asked if I would illustrate a book based on an expanded version of the original poem and, of course, I immediately said “Yes!”

Sadly, Mom passed away the following year with the collaboration unfinished. Family and work life prevailed and the Emily Sue book project was again shelved for a time. In 2019, with both girls now on their own, it was time to finish what my Mother had started.

Please enjoy this poem that has been seven decades and three generations in the making.