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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The ConNectar
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The ConNectar, Designed by Kaylin Broussard and Chris Bartlett for Trees Atlanta
The ConNector is aptly named. It highlights pollination — the life blood/connection of flowers and plants to life itself. I first saw this sculpture on a Thursday evening run, co-sponsored by the Atlanta Track Club and the Atlanta BeltLine. Most Thursday evenings, a group gathers at a brewery along the Beltline to meet up and run/walk. My husband and I started with the group in April of 2021, just after we moved to Atlanta and the group had reconfigured after a hiatus. The group immediately connected us to people, the Beltline, and the city. We hoped, before moving to Atlanta, the Beltline would be a resource for us newcomers. That hope has been realized Thursday evenings and in our life living on the Beltline.
The ConNectar is a great name in another way, too. Nectar is the sweetness of flowers and plants. Life happens as a result of the sweetness. (That statement is deeply true.) In that way — having lived on the Beltline for three years, I don’t think it is too over the top to say — the Beltline, and all it is, functions like a pollinator connecting the nectar of Atlanta to us all.
About Katie
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Born in 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.