Parade honors young Lincoln Finley

And I hope that through Lincoln's journey, he brings people back to their faith, and just reminds us all how fortunate we are to have our able and willing bodies and every day is a blessing”

Ashley Cunningham

When six-year-old Lincoln Finley was diagnosed with Leukemia in July, it turned his world — and that of his family — upside-down, as it does with any family faced with the same situation.

There are preparations to be made — lots and lots of medical appointments, chemo infusions, emotions, explanations, education, work arrangements, and the physical affects of the chemo on a little body — and then the realization that, just a few weeks later, Lincoln would not be able to celebrate his seventh birthday with a traditional party.

Friends stepped in, and the idea of drive-by well-wishers turned into a concept for a full-scale parade (See The Community News, Sept. 2, 2022).

That parade became a reality on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Sheltered in the portico of Faith Presbyterian Church in Aledo, family and friends set up balloons, a table with cupcakes, and a bullhorn for Lincoln.

And suddenly at 10 a.m. the parade started, starting with an Aledo ISD police car and Willow Park fire truck, lights flashing and horns blaring.

Next came a slew of Corvettes, a Willow Park police car, and then an assortment of classic cars, cheerleaders, and friends — many poking out of sunroofs — waving greetings and flashing homemade signs of encouragement and birthday wishes.

And they kept coming — Firebirds, convertibles, pickups, SUVs, cars, an Aledo fire truck, a Fort Worth Police car— all with heartfelt wishes for Lincoln.

Ashley Cunningham hands a drink to Lincoln Finley before the parade.

Layne Finch and Price Eripllo prepare to hand out cupcakes.

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“My hope — the whole parade  — is that Lincoln has a visible idea of how many people are alongside him during this fight,” his mother, Ashley Cunningham, said. “It's very hard to explain to a seven-year-old why he has cancer.”

“Why” is always the toughest question to answer.

“He asked me the other day why he had cancer, why God chose him to have cancer,” Cunningham said after the parade. “And my only response was, we don't know those exact answers and we may not know them ever during our lifetime, but what we do know and believe is that God chose him because he's special and that he has a very big plan for him, and I hope today was such a wonderful reminder of how big his plan is and how many hearts he's touching.

“And I hope that through Lincoln's journey, he brings people back to their faith, and just reminds us all how fortunate we are to have our able and willing bodies and every day is a blessing. So I just hope that he is motivated and uplifted by the parade today. That was my entire thought the whole time. And I I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude.”