Across the Meadow

Christie Barry is a Pennsylvania native who has lived with a slow-progressing but eventually life-changing health condition for decades. In the last ten years, after losing the ability to walk, Christie has found healing and hope among some family members, friends, nature, and her beloved pets. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in special education, Christie worked as a counselor and special education teacher. For the past three decades, Christie has operated a successful small landscaping business with her husband. Christie's love of the outdoors and gardening led her to gift a plot of land in Richmond's Scott's Addition. This land will be turned into a public green space for the city and all of its residents. When she began to use a wheelchair in 2018, Christie knew she had to face her new reality. She wanted to create a story that she wished she'd had in her youth and adulthood. Inspired by her own experiences and her love for nature, Christie wrote Across the Meadow to inspire readers to accept themselves, and others, fully. Christie hopes Hettie's story will remind her audience that they can live full, happy lives while having illnesses or disabilities and that a connection with nature can bring peace and joy into everyday experiences.