by Amanda West | Apr 17, 2025 | Stories
NINETY-YEAR-OLD MARY Sadler’s eyes twinkle as she studies the eager faces around the kindergarten classroom at Cascade Elementary School. Every morning, she lovingly delivers the bags of hot breakfast items to the students, and it’s the highlight of her day. With each...
by Amanda West | Mar 26, 2025 | Stories
SOMEONE IS unresponsive and has quit breathing. A loved one is struggling to breathe or appears to be experiencing a heart attack. A child is choking on a grape. Any one of us could find ourselves alone in the midst of these situations and others like them. Would we...
by Amanda West | Mar 26, 2025 | Stories
THE SKY blushed with shades of peach and coral above the metal bleachers of Shelbyville Central High School (SCHS). Wild honeysuckles sweetened the slight summer breeze. One by one, the stadium lights flickered overhead, casting a fluorescent glow over the soccer...
by Amanda West | Mar 26, 2025 | Stories
AFTER DAYS of nonstop chemo infusions, Ezralee Swing was much too weak to open his eyes. Above the metal headboard of his hospital bed, a machine beeped. Had he finally completed his seventh day of treatment? Would the leukemia be in remission soon? His spine ached...
by Wesley Bryant | Mar 26, 2025 | Stories
THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the...
by Wesley Bryant | Mar 3, 2025 | Stories
You know that first breath of spring? The way the warmer air gives you goosebumps — the air is soft, full of promise, carrying hints of something new. After months of cold, we step outside, and for the first time, the sun lingers a little longer, warming our hands,...