On a cold Valentine’s Day evening in Ohio City, the glow from the sign of the new restaurant ROSY spilled onto the sidewalk. Outside, standing close together against the Cleveland air, were Dillon Stewart and Shannon Stewart. Two locals, both East Side kids, now building their lives in service to the city in different but meaningful ways. Shannon grew up in Euclid. Dillon grew up in Mentor. Like a lot of people from this town, their paths crossed early. They met in high school, long before careers, responsibilities, and kids had fully taken shape.
Shannon works at the Cleveland Clinic, where she serves as a lung transplant coordinator. Before moving into her current outpatient role, she spent years as a bedside nurse working with lung transplant patients. Today, she helps guide people through one of the most complicated and emotional moments a person can face: waiting for, receiving, and recovering from a lung transplant. Many of the patients she works with are living with cystic fibrosis, and many of them are young. They are navigating frightening diagnoses, uncertain futures, and a health care system that can feel overwhelming even on its best day.
Dillon’s work is another kind of public service. As editor of Cleveland Magazine, he helps shape how the city sees itself. I first met Dillon when he reached out to invite me to write a column for the magazine. After meeting him, I knew right away that I wanted to work with him. He spoke about returning the magazine to deeper storytelling and highlighting the people who make Cleveland what it is. That kind of work matters to me, and I was glad to join his team in any way I could.
So there we were outside ROSY, pausing for a photograph on Valentine’s Day. An editor whose job is to notice the city. A nurse whose job is to care for the people in it. To me, the best portraits of Cleveland are not skylines or stadiums. They are moments like this: two people from here standing together on a city street, still rooted in the place that shaped them.
Rhinestones & Rustbelt: How Country Music Culture Is Taking Hold in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Capital
Thanks to @jolenescle for hosting our honky tonk photo shoot for the February issue of @clevelandmagazine .
Photos by @ellen.gobeille
Assisted by @soberliquorlady
Story written by @ida_in_cle
Art direction by @erinstinard
Read more about the Country takeover at clevelandmagazine.com.
In my arms through the end. Adopt a dog, man. Shorter than I wish, but one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. You were the best girl, Sushi. Chicken and treats forever.
Big T was suuuuuper fishy this weekend.
Pics can’t do this place justice, man. Thanks to Forrest from @galvinguiding for helping a newbie like me catch a ton of trout and making my trip unforgettable.
Last week, I hung out at @centrovilla25 with @jennyhamelideastream and @stuffisgood17 from @ideastreamneo . We ate way too much food and talked about what the space means to the Clark-Fulton neighborhood on Thursday’s edition of “The Menu.”
Check out the episode and @clevelandmagazine ’s story on CentroVilla25 at the link in my bio.
