Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
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‘Twould ease — a Butterfly

‘Twould ease — a Butterfly —/ Elate — a Bee —/ Thou’rt neither —/ Neither — thy capacity –// But, Blossom, were I, I would rather be/ Thy moment/ Than a Bee’s Eternity —// Content of fading/ Is enough for me —/ Fade I unto Divinity —// And Dying — Lifetime —/ Ample as the Eye –/ Her least attention raise on me —
Emily Dickinson
What a gift it is to bloom. From a distance, I have seen famous people bloom. (I suspect they are famous because they allow themselves to know their true blooming glory and share that glory with the world.) From up close, I have seen friends and loved ones bloom. Blooming is the ephemeral glow of people doing what they are put on earth to do. Blooming is the source of honey – the product of life’s work. (I think that goes for bees and people, too.) Blooming is our story being told. Blooming is always right on time and happens in the perfect way. Blooming is a glimpse of the sacred. In that way, we fade into divinity.
About Katie

From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.