Echols: Thanksgiving traditions for the modern family
“The modern American — me, included — can barely sit through a wheat-harvesting description without checking her phone for something a tad more interesting.”
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 139 articles by Candace Echols :
“The modern American — me, included — can barely sit through a wheat-harvesting description without checking her phone for something a tad more interesting.”
“Real, gut-level laughter is a gift from God; laughter was his design. It’s also a wildly underestimated instrument of light for both children and adults. It has the power to cut through some dark moments, and we need tools that have power like that right now.”
“It makes sense of a mother’s tears on the first day of kindergarten or at high school graduation. It recognizes a college graduate’s homesickness for her roommates. It validates a father’s emotion as he gives his daughter away on her wedding day.”
“There’s no person who is completely free of faith. Even atheism requires a hearty and confident step of conviction. And when you find you’re locked in a teeny, tiny closet, even the smallest step matters.”
The Enchanted Forest, Adventure River, The Wonder Bread factory and all the things that “brought me memories filled with laughter and delight.”
“There is a unique splendor here that is unique in comparison with any place I’ve ever been. It’s found in the bare and beautiful faces of so many folks who make up this space, and in the way they live in community with one another — even when it’s hard.”
After their seemingly perfect life crumbled, my parents — who run Jones Orchard — bounced back because of a tested and proven walk with God.
For a city reeling from trauma, “Nothing is normal. Nothing is right. You’re not yourselves and really, neither is anyone around you. Maybe not anyone in all of Memphis.”
“Basketball is not all that he is. It’s just what he does,” Marquita Williams said. “As his mom, I get him away from all of that. It’s about finding a balance, just like it is in anything.”
“If things were optional at school — things like the science fair or spelling bees — they were not optional in our house,” said Terri Carmichael Jackson.
“We never let anyone get a big head in our family. Everyone played a sport,” said Suzanne Anderson, mother of five.
“Canada didn’t have the opportunities for him that the U.S. offered. I knew what I had to do and I followed my heart,” says Whitney Triplett.
“In honor of our five starters, I’d like to offer five ways Memphians could learn from our Grizz, hone our niches and find ways to work and play together.”
“All of that aside, John K., it’s no mystery to me why the crowd goes crazy when you get in the game,” says Candace Echols in her open letter to the Grizzlies player.