Emmi's Change of Heart

Hello everyone! Today I am pleased to continue Change of Heart week with an interview with Emmi. Emmi is the main character ofChange of Heart. She's 16 up until she got sick she was an active soccer player and just your typical teen. Please welcome Emmi to the blog and I hope you enjoy learning more about her.

Full Name: Emmi Miller

Nickname: none

Age: 16

Favorite food: sushi

Favorite color: purple

Favorite number: 12-Sam’s baseball number

Favorite kind of music: Popular music. But I’m starting to get into old rock bands with my friend Abe

Please tell us a little about you.

For most of my life, it’s been all about the soccer. I play on an elite travel team, my school team and I even got to play in Europe last summer. I’m working my butt off to try to get a college scholarship. But now I got sick and without a heart transplant I might die. So in order for me to live, some other person must die. How do you wish for that? How do you not? It’s a horrible thing to think about.

Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them?

My dad’s the best. He totally got me into soccer and he even plays on an over 40 team. My mother is another story. She can be the biggest buzz kill ever—constantly on my case. She just doesn’t get me. She’s gotten a little better since I’ve been sick, but I’m wary.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Now—not much. I sit around my house, make photo collages and wait for someone to text me or IM me. Life is going on all around me and I’m stuck waiting.

Could you share with us a little about your life before you got sick?

It was mostly soccer, soccer and a little more soccer. I have a bunch of close friends: Becca, Lauren and Noelle. They’re all my soccer buds, but we hang out a lot off the field, too. I’ve always been healthy, and I guess I just took that for granted.

How has the need for a heart transplant changed your life?

I’ve found a patience I didn’t know I had. I used to be all about the doing, but now life is about the waiting. Not much I can do about it. Sometimes I’m chill, but other times I’m crazy frustrated. My friends are good to me, but I think they’d much rather be doing their usual thing than sitting around entertaining me.

Is there anything else you might want people to know about you?

Even if I sound cranky about all of this sometimes, I’m really not a bad person. When this is all over I want to play soccer in college and maybe even professionally. But I also want to go to Mongolia or someplace like that and teach kids English and help them.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions. If you would like to learn more about Emmi and her journey then head to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of Change of Heart by Shari Maurer. 

This interview is cross-posted on Ticket to Anywhere.