My Life and the Life of my Community was forever changed
Thirteen years ago today my life was forever changed. There was a smell in the air both in its literal and symbolic form that sickened a 40 square mile area that awakened us all.
We had been smelling an onion odor for weeks but there were no wild onions to be seen and a knowing in my spirit told me that something was not right. I readied myself for work on June 29, 2006 and decided to drive with my window down to my office that was about 7 miles from our home. I smelled the onion odor the entire way there. As soon as I arrived, I called our Extension Agency that was just down the road to see if they had any idea about this smell. They had been wondering as well what it was and encouraged me to further research it by calling the Environmental Protection Division. And so I did, it started a ball rolling that would change my life on every level and the lives of our community.
There is really no condensed version of this story that would be suitable in my mind. We were blessed to have news media follow our community story as it unfolded with The Citizen Newspaper at the forefront. I will leave you with a couple of articles that documented my journey and that of our Fayette and South Fulton community.
It is this inner awakening and a divine calling given to us all to care for this Earth and its People that has brought me to serve my home community today. For me this journey was not chosen but given, it rises above politics with a clear focus on how we can protect and uplift our neighbors - leaving this world better than we found it for future generations to come.
(My former married name was Biemiller in the articles below and I lived in Fayette County Georgia at that time)
http://www.cbgnetwork.org/2773.html
https://thecitizen.com/2011/06/29/national-clearinghouse-chemical-exposure-fayette-idea/