Echols: At St. Jude, ‘We’re here for each other’
A Memphis parent realizes how St. Jude “is a sacred space,” now that she, too, has a sick child and is at the marathon thanking people for running.
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 122 articles by Candace Echols :
A Memphis parent realizes how St. Jude “is a sacred space,” now that she, too, has a sick child and is at the marathon thanking people for running.
“Women of childbearing age are becoming more and more likely to kick parenthood to the curb. And who can blame them? There’s a government-issued health warning about it.”
“It seems ridiculous to feel sad over a chain restaurant leaving town. But for me, it’s as much about the memories as it is the chicken tenders. Because when it comes to meals regularly eaten in community, it’s hard to tell where food ends and friendship begins.”
“Whether too much or not enough or just the right amount, time is the thread running through every last tidbit of our human existence. ... And time is what this season of Advent is all about.”
“For those who love dogs, children or miracles, this story won’t seem far-fetched at all. As a matter of fact, it may strike some as downright splendid.”
“It would be rewarding to receive badges for things like getting a kid to sleep through the night or helping a child master multiplication facts.”
“Whether its nature or people that speak to us most clearly when we travel, taking in a new place with fresh gusto and does our hearts’ good. “
“My underlying hope is that when I do A and B, the promised C will result. But you only have to live a little while to learn that’s not the way life works.”
“Holding God’s transcendence and his immanence in view at the same time will not make me perfect, but it will change how I handle my own wrongdoing, as well as how I love God and others...”
“These people have no idea I’m writing about them. But they are using what they have in time, money, energy and ideas to bless the rest of us.”
“This Coffee Dance we’re all doing with the way we make our morning joe is the way we wake up, it’s the way we ease into the day. Each of us is quietly declaring our own preferences over and over again, every single time the Earth goes round.”
“I honestly don’t spend much time thinking about the lives of prostitutes, but during my kids’ bedtime story last week, the topic came up.”
“I’m fully aware that we didn’t have it all right back then. But today, I lament the passing of the past by submitting this list of Top 5 Everyday Experiences from My Childhood That My Kids Know Nothing About.”
“Someday what we are after in the face of LeBron will be found in the face of God.”
“Imagining a Memphis supplied with a well-informed coffeeman, uninterrupted conversation and Sunday afternoon car rides isn’t so bad.”
“Thankfully, the angst gave way. The swirl quieted to a calm and left no indication that it had ever existed. If I weren’t so thankful, I’d be mad — mad that I can’t look back and identify a single silver bullet or a proven magic pill.”
“Every spring, when daffodils push up through the dirt and new leaves sprout on the trees, the earth re-tells this old story. It’s the same story, over and over and over again.”
“Life comes at us utterly unannounced. No spoiler alerts. No accurate forecasts. No fortune tellers. It’s just us and time. And for me, God.”
Cam Spencer’s grandfather was known for saying, “Enjoy the journey,” encouraging the people he loved not to focus so hard on the destination they miss the fun of the road that gets them there.
“He doesn’t care about the glitz and glam of all of this stuff,” Laketia Wells said about her son. “He just lives.”
The years Kathy Huff and her husband spent cultivating an atmosphere of reading, relationships and recreation have come to fruition now that their children, including Memphis Grizzlies player Jay Huff, are grown.
“Living this way has flung the doors wide for me to write about things like the Grammys and National Parks and PGA golf and missionaries. ... And it’s all largely because I’ve now been taught to see.”