There is so much to say about the joy and love Finley brought into our lives in her far too short life.
Finley was born on 5/25/2019. She was the most perfect little girl. She joined what I called the best sister squad (at the time Peyton was 9, Teagan was nearly 2). Her older sisters were so thrilled to meet her, and we spent the summer loving her and watching her grow and arguing over who would get to hold her next. There was something just so special about her, with her perfectly round head, scrumptious lips, and button nose.
Finley walked by 10 months to keep up with her older sisters and be sure she didn’t miss out on anything. She loved to play outside and ride on her push car or be the passenger in the princess car while Teagan drove. Finley was an avid scooter rider, and she was particularly good at it, and could balance so well. She used to ride it around the house and follow her sisters on other riding toys. She was a climber, SUCH a climber. She would climb and stand on top of the play kitchen, as high as she could go.
She would carry a bin around with her and flip it over to step up on it so she could reach that much higher. She would use the bin to get to the sink, take snacks off the counter, take the toys she wanted or stand right smack in front of the TV at eye level. She also loved to get inside of anything; boxes, bins, baskets, you name it and if she could climb in, she would get in.
Finley loved to steal the pacifier right out of Teagan’s mouth, she would put it in her mouth in all different ways just to taunt her sister who truly loved her pacifiers, or “babas.” Every time she would do this and sit there with it in her mouth, she would laugh or walk away proud of this victory.
She was just starting to use words when she was diagnosed but loved to say “mama” and “dada” and could sing some of the baby shark song in the cutest way. When watching her favorite movie “Frozen,” she would try to sing along but only knew how to sing “GOOOO” to popular song “Let It Go.” She could say “love you” pretty well, and also tried hard to say chocolate. She may not have said much, but she fully understood everything we said, and would shake her head “No” about all talks of naps or bedtime.
One of my very favorite memories of Finley regarding chocolate was when she and her sister Teagan took the Christmas advent calendars off the table, opened a bunch of the upcoming days, and ate the chocolate out of it, but they did it while hiding under the dining room table. They both giggled when they were caught snacking on the chocolate they stole.
Finley was only 10 months old when the COVID-19 pandemic started. We spent a lot of time with her at home and even spent her 1st birthday here with a very small gathering to be safe. We had no idea it was the only birthday we would ever share with Finley and that she would pass of brain cancer before her 2nd birthday.
On Christmas Eve of 2020 we noticed Finley was walking off balance, falling, holding onto surfaces to get around and walking with her legs wide apart. Everything else about her was still 100% fine, she was happy, thriving, laughing, playing, and loving us and her sisters. At first, she was diagnosed with an ear infection and given antibiotics, but the walking didn’t get better. I knew in my gut something was wrong, something far worse. I took her to the local children’s hospital where an MRI revealed a mass in her cerebellum. This was the beginning of the nightmare we have yet to wake up from.
Everything continued to decline for Finley. She underwent her first surgery to remove the tumor on 12/31/2020. I handed over my perfectly happy and healthy 19-month-old baby girl for a surgery that morning, not realizing that she would never be the same again and that our time with her would be so limited. After that first surgery she underwent numerous, almost countless brain surgeries and suffered complication after complication.
We found out her diagnose was group 3 metastatic medulloblastoma with MYC amplification after she underwent a second craniotomy in Memphis, Tennessee where we decided to seek her care at Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This came with an extremely poor prognosis; her chances of survival were lower than we were ever told. After only a few rounds of chemotherapy with all those toxic chemo side effects, and more complications regarding her VP shunt and seizures, Finley died from her cancer on May 12, 2021. As sick as she was, through all the seizures and throwing up and pain, Finley still had a smile on her face.
Precious Memories of Finley
We hope this gallery of photos of Finley will convey her bright spirit and the happiness and joy she brought to us during her short life. To us, this is our memorial to Finley, a celebration of her life with us.
Prior to Diagnosis
Up to Diagnosis
Post Diagnosis
The Maguire Family
