Emily Ora Soule Hesse kicked her way into this world. She woke her mother up the morning of January 22, 1981, her foot opening up a hole in her mother's sac four weeks early. Her mother's first reaction? Push the foot back in. Emily would have none of it, and she was born at 10:52 PM that same day, Thursday, at Bess Kaiser Hospital in North Portland, OR. Her father had to miss a wrestling match he was coaching at the time, but got to the hospital and actually had to cut the umbilical cord. Emily had wanted to get out so badly that she had her umbilical cord wrapped three times around her neck. The doctor and the nurse were both busy, so it was up to Dad. This feistiness and zest for life characterized Emily literally before she was born.

Mother and daughter stayed at the hospital for several days due to juvenile jaundice, and, after a while, Mom had to go home and leave Emily at the hospital. Mom became the first women the hospital staff had ever seen come back in the middle of the night (2 AM to be specific) in order to nurse Emily. Cliff deserved a special award for being the driver.

Let us take a journey through the life of Emily Ora Soule Hesse from child, through the teenage years, through her wonderful years at SPU, and as a devoted wife.