*Last Christmas Eve, Emily was busy delivering Christmas Eve babies and Ben was getting ready to go into his night shift at the ER.*

Dr. Emily Middleton Williams returned to her hometown a little over a year ago. An obstetrician/gynecologist at Collom & Carney Clinic, Emily commutes from Shreveport where she lives with her husband, Ben, and rescue dog, “Rivers.” Emily and Ben are high school sweethearts, meeting while attending Pleasant Grove. He graduated in 2005 and she in 2006. They had a long distance relationship while Emily attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Ben was at Southern Arkansas University. The couple reunited in Little Rock in 2010 when Emily started medical school and Ben started his first job, and they stayed there throughout Emily’s OB/GYN residency. They have been married 6-1/2 years, and Ben is currently in his second year of Emergency Medicine residency.

Emily shares fond memories of growing up in Texarkana and is happy to be back in the community. Even though it has grown considerably in her absence, much of it she says is still the same. Growing up with two older sisters and a brother, Emily recalls happy childhood memories in their PG neighborhood and attending Hawk football games every Friday night. In fact, she and Ben attended PG’s recent Homecoming game, and she was in awe at how many were in attendance, the stadium busting at the seams. It is fun she says to come across former teachers, classmates, family friends and a new generation of fans. The overall homecoming for her has been endearing as it’s a mixture of both friends and family that make Texarkana what it is and loves how here there is a familiarity of everything.

An interesting fact about Emily is that she delivered four of her siblings’ children, three of them within a six-month period. This has been an absolute joy for her as she was the first one to witness their entrance into the world. Known as “Aunt Emmy,” she has reveled watching them grow up and their ages span from 9 months to 15 years. She adds, “I have many titles, but being an aunt is easily one of my favorites.” She became an aunt for the first time when she was 16, and now has 14 nieces and nephews, with number 15 due in early 2020. Emily recalls the first time she hurried into St. Michael hospital in the middle of the night when her niece Brooklyn was born. Now she’s in those same delivery rooms delivering babies and caring for new moms.

In addition to labor and delivery, she attends to patients’ preventative care and gynecologic issues in the clinic as well as performing operating room procedures. Emily says, “OB/GYN is a great specialty for me because I really feel like I get to make a difference in the lives of women of all ages and love having the opportunity to serve other women.”

Emily remains very close to her family adding that her siblings are her best friends. Since she is the baby of the family, she says it’s been nice to get to take care of her two sisters and sister-in-law when she delivered their babies. There are some close friends she has done the same for and beams when talking about friends who are like extended family. She babysat for several families when she was a teenager, and even though those children are now grown, they have remained close, and she visits with them often. Ben’s family lives in Texarkana so that is a great convenience as well.

After changing majors several times during college, Emily says she had little interest in a career in medicine but now can’t imagine her life not doing what she does every day. Born at Wadley, she was also born into a medical family. Her mom, Hazel, is a nurse and her father, Donald, a physician. She’s happy to be part of the Collom & Carney Clinic family and says she encounters people she knew when she was younger and who worked with her father. One thing she has been proud to bring to Texarkana is the establishment of Mamie’s Poppy Plates at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. This is an organization from Little Rock that provides free keepsakes for parents who have lost a child whether by miscarriage, stillbirth, etc. She explains, “This is something we did at UAMS while I was there, and I saw firsthand how much the mementos they provided were appreciated by the families, so I have been really happy to be able to help bring that to Texarkana.”

Emily enjoys traveling and cooking, especially baking. She also loves her barre and cycling workout classes. In the future she envisions doing just what she’s doing now and shares that one thing in life she is for sure of is that God makes the plans. “Whenever I try to make plans, God flips them upside down to do something else. Whatever I’m doing in 10 years, I am sure it will be what God has planned for me.” For Emily, that will definitely involve helping others and enjoying friends and family.

*Emily surprised Brooklyn, her first niece, with sonogram pics to let her know that she was going to be a big sister.*

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