Emily's father Robert Mayfield is an ibid. He got all three of his academic degrees from the same university, where he also has worked all his life. Robert is an innocent. It never occurs to him that he has never functioned in the world. For him, the university IS the world.
Emily's mother Suzanna becomes a mainstay of the local 4-H club. She shepherds girls and boys alike through various 4-H programs: home economics, gardening with an emphasis on flowers, and cooking. Suzanna is quite firm about boys learning to cook, regardless of the original resistance from the community. Suzanna herself always wins the bread-baking contest at the county fair.
When they had been married about a year and a half, Suzanna and Robert’s first child was born, a boy, George Robert, named for Suzanna’s father and for Robert. Just for the record, Robert was too modest to request a junior, but he was quite pleased that Suzanna insisted that their first child carry his father’s name.
George Mayfield was born with one leg shorter than the other. Consequently, he had a bit of a time learning to walk, and didn't walk until some weeks after his first birthday. Sports were difficult for George. He wasn’t able to run fast or move with much agility.
Suzanna and Robert's second child was born three weeks after George’s third birthday. Child number two is also a boy, Alexander Jacob Mayfield. Alex and George were close enough to be buddies, and also close enough to be competitors. Wherever George went, baby Alex wanted to go, too.
When George was seven and Alex was four, child number three was born to Suzanna and Robert: Emily McKinley Mayfield, named for her mother’s best friend, her mother’s family and her father.
(continued)
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