The Emma Finke Window Seat

It's finally summertime in Chicago and Emma’s Memory is celebrating!

On May 7th, we saw our inspiration become a reality. The Emma Finke Window Seat was revealed on the new wing of the oncology floor at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

During our time at Lurie, we were able to show Emma the beautiful Chicago skyline from various window seats around the hospital. These seats offered our family respite from the spiraling world around us. Shortly after Emma passed away, we wanted to name a window seat after her to offer comfort to those who would come behind us. We wanted our donations to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program at Lurie Children’s to have a permanent and visual reminder to those in treatment that they are not alone. This became our inspiration for fundraising in Emma’s name and starting Emma’s Memory. We set out, not having any idea what to expect or how long this might take. And in just over a year, we did it!

We wanted to take a moment to say thank you.

To the doctors, nurses, and everyone who helped take care of us during our time at Lurie Children’s, you are our inspiration and our reason for raising money for pediatric brain tumor research.

Thank you to our family, you are our life support and we could not have done this without you.

Thank you to our friends, donors, and supporters, you continue to amaze us and we are eternally grateful for your continued support.

Just because we have achieved our goal, it does not mean that we are stopping. Pediatric cancer research remains significantly underfunded. Pediatric cancer research receives just 4% of the annual budget from the National Cancer Institute. Pediatric brain cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children in America. In the last 20 years, only 3 cancer medications have been approved for children. Our children deserve more than this and this is why we will continue fundraising until these statistics change.

As Brain Tumor Awareness Month comes to a close, we encourage each of you to take a second to #GoGray in May for our brain tumor angels and our brain tumor warriors. You can buy tickets to our events or support our marathon runners.

- Sadie & Kyle Finke