In Memory Of: Stories about honoring loved ones
The Story Collider
Story Collider, Inc.
4.4 • 824 Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this week’s episode, both of our storytellers reflect on the ways we try to hold onto the people we love.
Part 1: Gwendolyn Napier is left heartbroken when harsh Atlanta weather destroys the trees planted to honor her family members.
Part 2: Bimini Wright looks back on her childhood spent aboard a research boat, studying tuna alongside her larger-than-life fisherman father.
Gwendolyn J. Napier aka “Miss LuvDrop”. Native of Atlanta, Georgia. Retired Educator from Fulton County Schools. Founder of LuvDrop Productions - The “Heart of Storytelling” sharing One Story at a Time. Fun Educational Entertainer - Storyteller, Singer, Poet, Drummer, Workshop Facilitator and more. She has been performing as a Storytelling Artist for over 16 years. Performing and Teaching Artist for the Georgia Council Of the Arts Registry. Performing Year-Round Storytelling Artist and Docent for the Wrens Nest House Museum in Atlanta, Retired Atlanta Ambassador for the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Children and currently serving as the President of the Georgia Storytelling Network. She has performed in many Venues celebrating Juneteenth as the Historic Portrayal of Harriet Ross Tubman in “The Annual Atlanta Parade” for the last 8 years, Clarkston Georgia Juneteenth Events, Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival, Georgia Storytelling Network Conference, National Association of Black Storytellers, Inc. Conference and Festival, Acworth Storytelling Festival, National Storytelling Network, Story Collider, Trees Atlanta, Roswell Roots Festival also including Schools, Churches, Libraries, and Performing Arts Theatres. Miss Napier has portrayed many other historical Women in History as Harriet Tubman, Bessie Coleman, Mahalia Jackson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Maria Van Burton Brown and more. Member of Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia, National Associations of Black Storytellers, Inc. including the Adopt-A-Tellers Program, Georgia Storytelling Network, & the National Storytelling Network.
Bimini Wright is a writer, performer, and actor based in Brooklyn. She grew up in the tropical rainforests of Australia before trading it for the concrete jungle of New York. Her work spans theater, journalism, comedy, and live performance, with stories that blend humor, vulnerability, and sharp observation. She is also, at times, a professional mermaid and the reigning Miss Subways 2025. When she’s not onstage or on the page, she can be found crafting something weird and hanging out with her adopted pet pigeon.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A science story, huh? Is NYU a scientist? I felt. I felt. And I just thought, well. It was that golden moment. Because science was on my side. |
| 0:27.0 | Hey, everyone. |
| 0:30.6 | Welcome to the story clutter, where we bring you true personal stories about science that remind us just how weird, wonderful, and complicated it is to be human. |
| 0:34.8 | I'm your host, Mishigayevsky, and in today's episode, both of our storytellers find creative and deeply personal ways to honor the people they love and have lost. These stories are tender, surprising, and really beautiful, and I can't wait for you to hear them. Our first story is from Gwendolyn Napier, aka Miss Love Drop Storyteller. Her story is recorded last year at a show we did in partnership with Trees Atlanta at our |
| 0:56.0 | go-to spot Waller's Coffee Shop. |
| 0:58.1 | Here's Gwendolyn. |
| 0:58.7 | To be or not to be, that is the question. |
| 1:15.7 | I bought a house in Atlanta 35 years ago. |
| 1:22.8 | Now, when I bought this house, I wanted to make sure that this house had a nice backyard and a nice front yard, |
| 1:32.4 | and both yards had trees. I struck gold. My home had some beautiful trees in the front yard and the backyard, but there were no trees on the sidewalk. |
| 1:52.1 | If you live in Atlanta, we plant trees on the sidewalk so we can marvel and look at the trees as we drive up and down the street. |
| 2:06.6 | Well, I went to Home Depot and I purchased three dogwood trees. |
| 2:15.6 | There were little switches at first, but i took time to purchase these three dogwood |
| 2:22.3 | trees for three members who i loved so dearly in my family i named one tree and took time to plant |
| 2:33.4 | one tree for Priscilla. |
| 2:36.5 | Priscilla was one sister I had. |
| 2:38.9 | She died very young, so I wanted Priscilla to be in my front yard so I could see her every day. |
| 2:48.6 | I took time to plant the second tree after my mother, and she was living at the time. |
| 2:56.3 | I called that tree Sarah. And then the last tree that I planted was for my young daughter. Her name was |
| 3:06.3 | Sherry at the time, and she's still living, but she has |
| 3:09.5 | grown up and she has moved away, and now she has her own family. I took time to nurture |
| 3:18.8 | those dog with trees. I would get on my knees, and I would just cultivate the soil. I would get those three |
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