Emma was born the youngest child of Harold and Peggy Wesley. She grew up with her two brothers on a lovely 400-acre farm in the rolling grasslands of Speedmount, Kansas. She was a gentle child, loving and sweet tempered. Her mother and father were devoted to their little girl and gave her as much time and attention as they could spare. Running a farm took a lot of time and energy. Everyone in the family had to work hard to keep it going. Emma divided her time between working with her mother in the house and with her father and brothers on the land. It was a hard life, but a good one.
In the summer of 1969, Emma turned fourteen years old, met Fred Hyatt, and started down a road of bad choices that would destroy her old life and drive her from her home.
She first met Fred at the Fourth of July picnic. Her heart fluttered when she saw him drive up in his red Mustang convertible, his hair all ruffled by the wind, so tan and good looking. He strutted out of his car like he owned the world, and maybe he did at the magnificent age of eighteen. He glanced at Emma and gave her a big smile and a wink. Emma fell in love instantly.
He flirted with her as he played touch football nearby with his friends. He teased her by paying attention to other girls when he knew she was watching.
Eventually, with a swagger, he strolled over and introduced himself with a knowing smile. They talked for a while and Emma found herself walking with him and talking as if she had known him all her life. All she could think about was Fred and how handsome he was. She even tried out his name for her own… a funny thing for a girl to do, but easy when you’re immature and daydream of a future with someone special. Emma Hyatt, she thought with a big smile. That would make a wonderful name.
Fred attended Malcolm High School, just a few miles away and Emma gave him her phone number. Soon they were talking for hours, day after day. Emma yearned to be with him, and he thought she was cute enough to take out, at least for a while.
When he asked her to go with him to a local football game the next weekend, Emma was crushed when her parents said no. They told her that she was too young to be dating anyone, let alone a high school senior. In the ensuing fights, no amount of talking or yelling could convince Emma that she should wait until she was old enough to go out with Fred.
Almost immediately, her parents forbid her from seeing him. Emma responded by sneaking out of her bedroom, night after night. Too soon she was pregnant, and from that time on her life would never be the same. Deep and sad were the changes to the people she knew and loved. Her family was crushed and her friends avoided her. Her childhood vanished, and Emma, only a young girl had to grow up and strive to be a woman.
Word of her pregnancy spread rapidly around the small community of Speedmount, and when her classmates started teasing her and snickering behind her back, she was mortified. Within days, she had dropped out of school. She didn’t tell her parents for fear they wouldn’t understand. Besides, it would only add to her troubles with them. Sadly, the lack of an education would always haunt her, condemning her to poverty and constant struggle.
Why is everyone turning against me? I’m in love and having a baby. What’s so bad about that? she wondered.
Before long, her attitude toward life changed. Her heart hardened against life and anything that got in her way. She would find places to go during school hours and daydream about the life she was going to have with Fred and their new baby. He would take care of her. After all, he had told her how much he loved her, over and over again. She knew he was going to ask her to marry him any day now, but he never did.
How could she realize that his love for her wasn’t the same? That what he thought of as love wasn’t love at all, but just the immediate fulfillment of his desires. Not once did Fred think of a future with Emma. And she had no idea that her dream of a family only existed in her heart, alone.
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