Emily

Quick Facts

• Role: Terminally ill child whose “special day” in the park becomes the linchpin of Character: Jason Stevens’s lesson on the Gift of Problems
• First appearance: Chapter 7, at a city park
• Age/condition: Six- or seven-year-old with terminal cancer
• Associated theme: Theme: The Benefit of Problems and Adversity
• Defining image: A radiant smile on the swing set; quietly exhausted in a wheelchair at day’s end

Who They Are

Emily is the story’s smallest teacher and its clearest mirror. She arrives in a moment of ordinary play and, without preaching or pity, reframes what it means to have “problems.” Her joy is not naïveté—it’s a disciplined, generous presence that coexists with pain. By choosing a simple day in the park and then sharing it freely, she reveals that happiness is practiced, not purchased, and that grace can be an active stance even when time is short.

Personality & Traits

Emily’s character blends bright innocence with deliberate courage. She doesn’t argue with suffering; she outshines it, inviting others into a version of joy that is participatory and portable.

• Joyful and positive: Instead of asking for Disney or a celebrity, she wishes for “a fun day in the park,” then fills that ordinary space with extraordinary delight.
• Courageous: A hospital volunteer calls her “the most amazing person I have ever seen in my life,” signaling how her steadiness under a terminal diagnosis inspires adults who witness it.
• Selfless and giving: Meeting a sullen Jason, she immediately offers, “I could share [my special day] with you,” treating joy as communal rather than scarce.
• Innocent yet incisive: She can’t fathom why Jason isn’t having a special day—her default assumption is that happiness is a right-now option, not a distant reward.
• Fragile and resilient: She plays on the swings like any child, yet must be wheeled away at day’s end; the contrast makes her cheerfulness a choice rather than an accident.
• Memorable warmth: Jason notes a smile he’ll “never forget,” tying her inner light to a concrete, unforgettable image.

Character Journey

Emily is a static character whose single scene functions like a parable. She enters as a stranger on a swing, becomes a quiet mentor through sharing, and departs with a promise to advocate for Jason at the hospital. Her “arc” is the steady beam of someone who refuses to let pain define the day. The actual transformation belongs to Jason: Emily embodies the Benefit of Problems and Adversity by modeling joy as an act of will, showing him that perspective—not circumstance—determines whether a problem shrinks or swallows you.

Key Relationships

• Jason Stevens: Emily approaches him without judgment and offers to share her special day, instantly reorienting his self-pity. Her generosity forces Jason to recalibrate what counts as a “problem” and what counts as a “gift.” He later honors her impact by including time with her in his own vision of a perfect day, proof that her kindness becomes a compass for his choices.

• Hospital volunteer/nurses: Through their narration, we learn Emily’s wish and the stark reality of her illness. Their admiration—tinged with awe—frames Emily not as a figure to be pitied but as a moral exemplar whose courage humbles the caretakers themselves.

Defining Moments

Emily’s scene is brief but meticulously shaped to teach Jason—by showing, not telling—how joy can be chosen.

• The wish for a park day over Disney

  • What happens: Offered any wish, Emily asks only for “a fun day in the park.”
  • Why it matters: It explodes Jason’s consumer-scale of happiness; fulfillment is presence, not price tag.

• Sharing her special day

  • What happens: She laughs and invites Jason to share her day when he says it isn’t his.
  • Why it matters: Joy becomes invitational; problems lose power when reframed within companionship.

• The promise to arrange a day for Jason

  • What happens: Before leaving, she vows to ask the nurses to give Jason a special day too.
  • Why it matters: Her empathy flips the script—she, the dying child, becomes the giver; Jason, the heir, becomes the receiver.

• The wheelchair departure

  • What happens: Emily grows tired and is wheeled away after the park.
  • Why it matters: The image fuses fragility with radiance, sealing the lesson that courage is not the absence of limits but grace within them.

Essential Quotes

When we told her that we could try to make a special wish of hers come true, she said she would like a fun day in the park. We told her that many kids went to Disney World or ball games or the beach, but she just smiled and said, ‘That’s very nice, but I’d just like to have a fun day in the park.’

This line collapses the distance between fantasy and fulfillment. Emily’s contentment is portable, rooted in attention rather than escape. By valuing the ordinary, she exposes Jason’s habit of measuring happiness by excess instead of presence.

She turned to me with a smile I’ll never forget and told me that her name was Emily and that this was her special day in the park. She asked me if this was my special day in the park too. I told her that I didn’t think it was, and she laughed and told me that I could share hers with her.

The unforgettable smile isn’t just cosmetic; it’s the vehicle for a worldview. Emily’s invitation reframes a private gift as a communal one, teaching that joy expands when shared—precisely the antidote to Jason’s isolation and self-absorption.

But, before Emily left, she told me that when she got back to the hospital, she would talk to the nurses and see if they could arrange for me to have a special day in the park too.

Here the roles invert: the child advocates for the adult. Emily’s impulse to give multiplies the gift beyond a single afternoon, showing that true generosity creates structures—however small—that enable others to experience the same grace.