The Graces We Remember:
Sacred Days of Ordinary Time

by Phyllis Tickle
Chicago: Loyola Press, 2004

Reviewed by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

In 1976, Phyllis Tickle and her husband Sam decided that their children were growing up without knowing how to live off of the land, "how to grow and tend, make and make do." The Tickles decided to move with five of their children (two other children were already grown) to "The Farm in Lucy," located about 20 miles north of Memphis, Tennessee. The Graces We Remember is the latest in a series of books that reflect on their time on the farm with their growing family. It focuses on the days of "Ordinary Time," the time in the liturgical calendar that stretches from Pentecost to Advent.

Tickle is an Episcopalian who covers religion for Publishers Weekly. She fills the pages of The Graces We Remember with vignettes of days spent learning lessons from the land, the animals, and people from the town of Lucy. It even includes a ghost story! Perhaps the most poignant story from a mother's perspective is when her youngest daughter starts school and Tickle finds herself alone during part of the day for the first time in twenty-five years! She begins to realize that she can reclaim part of her home for herself and sets about to decorate her dresser with beautiful, fragile items she could not have when a baby was around.

The Graces We Remember is easy reading. It serves as a simple reminder to appreciate and learn from all the days in our lives.




© Spiritual Woman Press, 2005. All rights reserved.