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Editor’s note: on July 18, 2024, Emerson’s family posted on their public Facebook page that Emerson succumbed to her cancer and posted this link to her obituary.

One summer day on my way home, I passed a lemonade stand, giving it a quick glimpse and a smile thinking “Ah, cute young girls and their little lemonade stands.”  

However, later that day when I passed the lemonade stand again, I noticed a sign saying, “Emerson the Brave.” I was curious, so, I stopped, and that day Emerson became an inspiration and a heroine to me. 

In 2018, Emerson, known as Emerson the Brave, was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, Diffuse Midline Glioma.  Since then, she has been in and out of hospitals, enduring surgeries, MRI’s and lab tests. Emerson knows just how difficult it is to be stuck in the hospital. And she wants to help make kids, like her, more comfortable and to have a better stay in the hospital.  So, she sells lemonade, jewelry, and cookies to raise money to buy toys for kids at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan.  

When asked why she is called “Emerson the Brave,” she said, “One day I looked up the meaning of my name and it was ‘brave.’”   A very fitting name for this young eleven-year-old girl who has raised approximately $2,000 to supply toys to ill children. 

We at Wisdom of the Wounded listen to the stories of individuals who have or are presently suffering, and we almost always learn some caregiving wisdom to share on our website, social media and via the radio.

Emerson reminds us that: 

• All ages can be effective caregivers.

• One way to find pleasure and joy even while suffering is to forget oneself and find a cause beyond yourself.  (Emerson smiles a lot, and it is obvious that she enjoys her customers.) 

• When we forget ourselves and care for others, both the giver and the receiver are blessed.

I hope that I have another opportunity soon to stop and buy some lemonade from my new hero, Emerson the Brave. 

May we learn from Emerson’s example: to reach out and care for others—even during adversity.  (Isaiah 11:6) 

Want to learn more about Emerson’s journey? Visit her Facebook page.