Meet a staffer: FFRF’s events manager is no ‘miracle baby’

Name: Sadie May Pattinson.

Where and when I was born: In the village of Belleville, Wis., in 1998.

Education: I graduated from Belleville High School in 2016, and from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2020, with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in journalism, magna cum laude.

Family: My parents are Ron and Connie Pattinson, and though I’m an only child, I grew up with two best friends Lauren and Kira, who remain like sisters. I also recently rescued a kitten named Violette who has quickly become the love of my life.

How I came to work at FFRF: After graduating during the pandemic, I was looking for a workplace with a mission I felt very driven to fulfill. Knowing I am working toward something that I am passionate about makes it much easier to wake up each day.

What I do here: As the events and outreach manager here at FFRF, I work to plan events, both large and small, from staff lunch outings to the annual national convention. As the chapter liaison, I connect our chapters in states all over the nation, assisting them in outreach efforts. I also have been tasked to take care of our beautiful gardens in the summer, which has been my favorite miscellaneous job task so far.

What I like best about it: I like being able to work with people who are like-minded, yet respectful and open to others’ beliefs. Little things like not getting blessed after I sneeze, and not being judged for wearing “ungodly” clothes is very refreshing in the office.

What gets old about it: People asking me not to tell others where I work when introducing me to a new person.

I spend a lot of time thinking about: How almost everything can be thrifted.

I spend little if any time thinking about: Getting condemned to a hell.

My religious upbringing was: I was born into an atheist family that stressed the beliefs in schooling and nature rather than a religion.

My doubts about religion started: Luckily, I wasn’t ever indoctrinated into any religion, so I do not have any doubts, as I have simply never believed in one. However, there have been many experiences in my life which have further solidified my secularism. The more educated I become, the less I believe.

Things I like: The golden hour before a sunset, tiramisu, spotting a fox, talking to strangers, discovering new hiking trails, sinner’s spinach, Victorian-era decor and giving privileged Christian crank callers a reality check from their sheltered lives.

Things I smite: Capitalism, busy grocery stores, centipedes, the American healthcare system, calculus, single-use plastics, toxic masculinity, and when you put a pizza on broil to crisp it up a bit and it gets a little too crispy.

In my golden years: Life will be golden when I’m taking care of the large garden I grew all by myself.

What is something that makes you different?: It sounds strange, but the story of my conception is quite different. I was created by in-vitro fertilization, made entirely in a lab in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, frozen for a period, and then implanted back into my biological mother, who had struggled to get pregnant for over a decade. Many called me a “miracle baby,” but I see it more as being “science based” since conception.