2026 August - Emerald Coast Woman Magazine - Magazine - Page 25
Immediately, Fran started calling hospitals and
universities to 昀椀nd clinical trials. It was at this
time that she learned of the lack of awareness
and funding for pediatric cancers. Pediatric
cancer studies primarily rely on a combination
of federal allocations, private philanthropy, and
state-level healthcare investments to overcome
a long-standing statistic where only 4% of
federally allocated cancer research funds go
toward childhood diseases. With the help and
support of friends and family, who organized
a meal train and helped with child care for
Grace’s younger brother, Maxxwell, known
to everyone as Maxx, the family found their
footing. As a parent, you pull yourself together
for your children and the family, and Fran found
herself leaning into her faith. She found her
strength through Jesus. When faced with the
impossible, it was the faith and belief that God
had greater plans for Grace that helped her get
through the darkest times.
Fran had always dreamed
of writing a book, and for
years she planned to selfpublish it on her own. Then
she shared a story of sitting
under a tree at the hospital
in Birmingham. The tree
gave her shade while she
was having a break during
hospital visits. The tree
also gave her comfort and
became the inspiration for
her children’s book: Amazing
Grace and the Wishing Tree.
It is a story about Grace, a
young cancer patient, and her brother Maxx,
who discovered a wishing tree and distributed
ribbons to pediatric oncology patients so that
they could write their wishes — each with a
special prayer — and the ribbons carry these
prayers and hopes to heaven. The story is written
to give all who read it hope and is a delicate
balance of honoring Grace’s memory and spirit
while providing light, hope, and the power of
prayer to children and adults. The author hopes
that the book reminds every reader that even in
the darkest moments, hope still exists.
Fran has become an advocate for pediatric
cancer. In Grace’s memory,
her family established two
scholarships in Grace’s name:
the Amazing Grace Memorial
Scholarship, through the Sinfonia Youth
Orchestra where she was a second violinist, to an
outgoing senior, and the Children’s Brain Tumor
Foundation awarded bi-annually to a high school
or college student who is a cancer survivor or
currently facing a diagnosis. Fran also tries to
do something every year to raise awareness
and honor Grace, including the Race for Grace
5K and collecting 55 bags for pediatric cancer
patients. Pediatric cancer changes the lives of
children and families forever, but it does not
have to have the 昀椀nal word. If her story, Grace’s
story, helps one reader to feel seen, one person
