FLINT (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - Every morning, Candace Randle sent the same text to her boss.
"Good morning," the daily message to Mirtha Renteria read.
But Wednesday was the last time Mrs. Renteria would ever receive that message from her friend and coworker.
“Everyone I’ve seen the last three days has said the same,” Mrs. Renteria said. “They all received the same text message from Candace every single morning. Without fail, she would wake up and say good morning through a text message.”
Candace was killed on impact in a four-vehicle wreck just after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Candace's son, Camdyn, 5, was critically injured and died Thursday night after being flown to Children’s Medical Hospital in Dallas.
Candace's 7-year-old daughter, Aryonna, was with her grandmother at the time of the wreck.
Mrs. Renteria said Candace started working about three years ago for Autopartners insurance, where she handled insurance sales and recently became a licensed agent but never got to see her certificate.
Mrs. Renteria said Candace was ecstatic, and she was proud of her friend.
On Saturdays, Mrs. Renteria and her family watched Camdyn while Candace worked.
“We got to babysit for her. She was just always sharing him with us; we got to love on him,” Mrs. Renteria said.
Over the weekend, Camdyn started to get sick. After a trip Sunday to Chuck E. Cheese, Candace shared her concern with Mrs. Renteria, and by Tuesday, Camdyn began running a fever and his daycare had to send him home.
About 10 a.m., Candace left work to pick up her son in a car borrowed from her sister. The doctor’s office told her to go ahead and come in, but they were busy, Mrs. Renteria said.
With Camdyn’s appointment pushed to 3:15 p.m., Candace had time to run errands and decided to look at a duplex in Flint that a friend had told her about.
Mrs. Renteria said Candace had recently begun looking for a home in the country. She was preparing to buy a new car and was saving money each payday.
“It may sound cliché, but she was very focused on moving forward, and she was doing all of that to ensure she was on her way,” Mrs. Renteria said.
“She was definitely in a good place, she was very focused on Camdyn and giving him a better future,” Mrs. Renteria said. “That was all she really wanted was to make sure Ary and Camdyn’s future was secure.”
Candace and Camdyn were on the way to look at what might have been their new home when their lives were tragically cut short.
“She picked him up and they grabbed lunch. She called and asked if I wanted something to eat,” Mrs. Renteria said. “That’s the last time I heard from her - when she was headed out there.”
Mrs. Renteria said Candace was her best friend.
“There was just no way not to love her,” Mrs. Renteria said. “If you got to meet her, I think the most devastating part of this is knowing we lost somebody so great.”
Candace's mother, Carmen Hudson Greene, said Camdyn’s organs will be donated. Children’s Medical said the donation has the potential to save seven to 10 lives.
Candace also is survived by her stepfather, Mike Greene, and her brother, Joshua Randle.
