WITH A SONG IN HER HEART

FORT WAYNE — Writing music has been child’s play for Emma MacDonald since age 7.

“I was totally rotten when I was little – a brat,” she admits. “I was bouncing off the walls and kept getting put in ‘time outs.’” Finally, after her parents Dave and Jennifer had tried about everything to calm her down, her Dad got her a small, plastic keyboard.

“He taught me to play one song, from ‘Sesame Street’ or something. I kept playing it over and over. Often, I would wander off from a ‘time out’ to go play the piano.” Soon she started making up stuff, Emma related, since she didn’t know how to read music, and singing to what she was playing.

Emma, 16, is the second oldest of five MacDonald children — two girls and three boys ranging in age from 18 to six. Natives of Fort Wayne, Emma’s parents met at a campus ministry Mass at St. Jude Parish. Subsequently, they were married at St. Jude and remain parishioners.

Since the oldest child was in first grade, Jennifer has been homeschooling the children. “It’s been phenomenal,” she said, “and has given us complete unity as a family. Our goal is to prepare them for whatever God has for them without knowing what that might be,” she related. “One son plays recorder, never practices, yet recently received an award. Our oldest daughter loves to write. Another son is building oriented and understands the mechanisms of how things work. … But we’re always looking for the whole person, not just their talent,” Jennifer emphasized. “I often grounded Emma from playing piano so she would do her math,” she added.

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