Candace Echols is a Midtown resident, wife, and mother of five. A regular contributor to The Daily Memphian, she is a freelance writer who also recently published her first book, the children’s book “Josephine and the Quarantine.”
There are 99 articles by Candace Echols :
“If you stop to look around, the walls of our world are plastered with bulb-lit-arrows all over the place. And they are all pointing to something beyond. Something grander. Something far better and far worse than what usually enters our mind as we’re ordering our combos and swiping our cards and deciding between Diet Coke or Coke Zero. “
“How many of our systemic problems could be impacted — not solved, mind you, just lightly impacted — if we connected a little better with those who live close by?”
“How do I write openly about the God I worship even as I do not understand why he is allowing such painful things to take place in our city?”
“Not all Mississippians have gotten it right throughout history, and that’s easy to see. But what we can learn from the natives who speak rightly is how to convey difficult ideas with gentleness.”
“Young people need people who have a different perspective not only in race or gender or socioeconomic status, but in age.”
“People in our city are considering a lot right now. We are thinking through family histories that are long, friendships that are time-tested, and roots that run deep. “
“Our people are gold. They’re not the type you just walk out on. ... The everyday folks that make up Memphis are awesome.”
“Perhaps they grew up going to church, but it felt dull. Perhaps they went to Christian school, but didn’t click with their classmates. Perhaps they had a sibling or a friend or a mother who prayed for them, but it never really took.”
“There are seasons when darkness snuffs out creativity. But every time we make something new and beautiful — something life-giving and delightful — we push back on all that darkness.”
“You don’t have to live long to realize life on this earth is decidedly short. Eternity, on the other hand, is just that: eternal.”
“Families who come here annually may well have their rhythms and traditions, but in the case that mine and yours don’t cross over and you’d like to try something new, here are a few suggestions straight from my very own family.”
“We would head back to Busch Stadium and find our spot on the fold-down, red plastic chairs — the ones you would have to peel the backs of your thighs off of each time you would stand up to cheer. Because it was hot. So, so hot.”
“The Taylor vibe was strong not only on stage but also in the crowd, and it came out in how her fans looked and in how they sang, in how happy they were to be in her presence and in how they were a unified reflection of the one they came to see.”
As families celebrate Father’s Day, Candace Echols details the lessons she’s learned from her husband — including that wrestling has some actual value.
“That small smile created a bridge and invited me to walk across — if only by smiling back. As a society, we are fractured in a million jagged ways ... that smile was a step toward reconnection.”
It’s not easy to become a shooting guard for the Memphis Grizzlies, but Luke Kennard wasn’t alone. “It became who we were as a family,” said mother Jennifer Kennard. “And we loved it, but it required a lot of us all to make it happen.”
Tanya Powell-May is a CPA and CEO, with a college basketball background of her own. With a son like Memphis Grizzlies’ big man Xavier Tillman Sr., she knew success was coming.
Debbie Jones, the mother of Memphis Grizzlies player Tyus Jones and San Antonio Spurs player Tre Jones, spent her fair share of hours in the gym when her sons were growing up.
“I’ll admit that the Easter bunny is cute and tons of fun – he swings by our house every year. The eggs are nice. The flowers are a delight. In their own ways, they all point to new life. But there is nothing that compares with celebrating what it means for humanity that Jesus walked out of that tomb.”
“Memphis — tough, strong, seasoned Memphis — this is our chance to be soft. This is our chance to love our sister city — to be the ones who understand. This is our chance to be with.”
“I think maybe every time I’ve left a piece of my heart somewhere, I have been cataloging signposts — signposts that point to a place where all good things will not come to an end.”
“Those two elderly people have lived long in this place — this Memphis we’re in now. They’ve seen a whole lot of water flow under that bridge downtown.”
“While we might not agree on where to get the best pizza in town or which is the best Memphis in May band, we may find we totally see eye-to-eye on the ideal spot to catch a stunning sunset.”
“I’ve experienced all of that, and Scripture backs those descriptions as by-products of walking with Jesus. Once you’ve seen stuff like that, it’s hard to keep it to yourself. It’s kinda like this: When you have tasted Pancho’s cheese dip, you can’t not tell other people about it when they come to our city.”
“One morning, not too far off, we will wake up, we will go outside, and we will discover that while we were sleeping, something that looks an awful lot like mercy has visited our natural world.”