THREE GENERATIONS. This 2010 family photo shows, from left to right, Carol “Sue” Burch – also known as “Mrs. B”; her daughter, Mary Burch; and her granddaughter, Jessie Burch. Mary and Jessie, her niece, collaborated on the new book Too Fast For Conditions, an homage to “Mrs. B.”

‘What’s your story? If you can dream it, you can do it!” reads the black T-shirts created and worn by Mary and Jessie Burch, adorned in the front with a golden retriever intently reading the newly released book, Too Fast for Conditions, A Day in the Life of Mrs. B.

Mary quipped: “Even animals will wish they knew Mrs. B.”

The book took Mary, the aunt and author, and Jessie, the niece, author, and illustrator, two-and-half years to complete. The 76-page volume is a tribute to and memoir of Carol “Sue” Burch, a.k.a. “Mrs. B,” Mary’s mom and Jessie’s grandma. Jessie described her as “totally selfless.” Mary added: “She didn’t care about status or money. She would say: ‘When all is said and done … it is love, kindness, generosity, and your relationships that will leave your legacy.’ ”

Mrs. B’s given name was Carol, but she was known as “Sue” because there were seven “Carols” in her kindergarten class in Ladysmith. On June 15, 1958, she married Harvey Burch, and chose to spend her life farming with her husband and raising three children at Burch Haven Farm in Sheldon.

The genesis for the book came on June 16, 2013, about two-and-a-half years after Mrs. B passed away on New Year’s Eve 2010. Mary, of Eau Claire, was cleaning out a closet in her parent’s home and came upon a book called 365 Things to Do Before You Go to Heaven. True to form, her mom had left her mark, crossing out certain words or phrases and replaced them with her own and covering the margins with notes and smiley faces. This book: Her mom’s bucket list.

At about the same time, Jessie showed Mary a watercolor of her grandpa’s 1997 Silverado pick-up truck, a source of many memories for Jessie after he died earlier in 2010. Jessie’s original artwork enhances the stories through watercolor, acrylics, and colored pencils. The naturally talented artist plans to set aside her palette upon high school graduation this coming spring so she can learn dairy herd management at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College and pursue her first passion of farming.

The first one-third of the book covers “adventures” with Mrs. B, like the various stories in which safety was often overlooked in the spirit of entertaining her two grandchildren, Jessie and Jake. Mary’s favorite adventure with her mom was shopping in a thrift store in Tacoma, Wash., where Mary lived at the time.  Mary realized that the center of a shopping commotion was none other than her mom who thought that “only six items in the dressing room” was merely a suggestion.

The last two-thirds of the book are reprints of Sue’s “Sheldon News” columns published in the Ladysmith News in 2010. Sue had always wanted to write for a newspaper, and in the last year of her life her chance came, and she ran with it. She chronicled small-town life in a familiar, folksy style.

Humor-wise, the book is a mix between newspaper columnist and humorist Erma Bombeck and celebrated author and wit James Thurber. You will find yourself reading and then letting out a hearty guffaw right from your belly.

Too Fast for Conditions, A Day in the Life of Mrs. B by Mary and Jessie Burch and illustrated by Jessie Burch is available at The Local Store, 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire, and online at createspace.com, Amazon.com, and Amazon Europe. A Kindle version is available too. Learn more about the book at www.toofastforconditions.com, facebook.com/MrsBsMercantile, or mrsbsmercantile@outlook.com.