Greetings from Sea World
Caseys & Geltmakers have gathered here in San Diego this fine summer Mondsy. We’ve got about 30 minutes to wait until Shamu takes the stage. We’re seated in the “Soak Zone”, so I guess we’re gonna get wet. Should be nice.
Category: Family
St. Nicholas Snow Day
As a kid, there were a few holiday traditions brought over from the old world family roots in Bohemia. Some were food related, like the braided Hoska bread, or the Kolacky pastries. But the other meant gifts, and that’s why I enjoyed the fact that we celebrated St. Nicholas day in our house.
St. Nicholas of Myra lived in the 4th Century in what is today the country of Turkey. According to Wikipedia, he was known for secret gift giving and “is revered by many as the patron saint of seamen, merchants, archers, children, prostitutes, pharmacists, lawyers, pawnbrokers, prisoners, the city of Amsterdam and of Russia.” Happily, as a child, I fell into the child category and so was glad to celebrate his feast day on December 6th.
Although I’m not sure we really celebrated it as they did in the the Czech Republic. To me, celebrating St. Nicholas day meant an early visit by the historical predecessor to the coming visit by Santa which followed three weeks later. We’d get some toys and some candy (always a Lifesavers Sweet Storybook). That’s all that mattered.
St. Nicholas was known to travel with some less appealing companions. Good children would receive gifts from St. Nicholas, while bad once received beatings. My mother recalls that her Grandfather would dress as Black Pete to scare his siblings and later his children. Presumably they were beaten.
Yesterday we had enough snow that today the schools were closed and my wife and kids enjoyed a bonus day off. There was candy and gifts in their shoes (thanks folks), as there had been in mine. And while, like me, they know little more about the day than I did, I’m glad to carry on the tradition. Maybe this year I’ll try and make a Hoska. Next year, I’ll be Black Pete.
RISK
At the front end of our long Thanksgiving weekend, I was determined not to let it all be lost to mind-numbing hours of the Cartoon Network, or the isolation of our laptops. And so I found and dusted off one off my old favorite board games, RISK.
My older brother Sean really enjoyed this game, and I remember him teaching me to play on the set we had with armies made of small wooden blocks of different colors and shapes. It’s a great mix of strategy and luck. My current set dates to my college days, where many a battle was fought. But it’s been a real long time since my generalship has been tested on the RISK board. Colleen and Will were quick to take up my challenge to fight over the world. We’ve played two games so far this weekend. I won the first, but was the first to go in the second, and I’m typing this now as they engage in the final battle. There’s a special sort of fatherly pride to hear my daughter shout, “I’m coming into Irkutsk from Kamchatka with three!”. And she did.Fifteen Years Ago
On September 29, 1990, my wife and I became parents for the first time. Katie arrived three weeks early, and as a result spent ten days in the Intensive Care Nursury at Alexandria Hospital. Oddly, they weren’t days of worry, the hospital staff was wonderful and amazing in keeping us informed on Katie’s status and progress. It was a few days before she was disconnected from a ventilator and other stuff, and we finally got to hold her.
Today, Katie is fifteen years old. The thought of it blows my mind. She’s a beautiful young woman, a freshman in High School, an excellent writer and singer, and a smart/fun/loving person. Happy Birthday Katie! We love you very much.Bridging to Juniors
Bridging to Juniors
Originally uploaded by Chris Casey.
Colleen ‘bridged’ today from Brownies to Juniors. Her familiar brown vest was retired in favor of a fancy new green sash. The vest is full of patches commemorating years of memories, activities and achievements so far in scouting. The new green sash is bare, ready for many more yet to come.
My wife Jennifer has been a scout leader for our son and daughters; tigers, cub/wolf/bear, weblos, brownies, juniors and cadets. She’s a natural born scout leader, and the kids and I are lucky to have her. Congrats Colleen!Kids at the bar
After a tough loss on the soccer field (Will scored both of his teams goals) we ran into the Hollands on our way to Philly Tavern in Manassas. Here are the kids at the bar, enjoying some shots.
4×100
At the track meet
It’s Rippon at Saunders in a middle school track smackdown on a wonderfully warm spring day. Will’s events are the 4×100 and the 4×400.
They lost the 4×100, but Will ran a great anchor leg. Wednesday track meets this spring are gonna be great fun.
John Francis Casey (1912/Chicago, IL – 2004/Cortland, IL)
My grandfather, John Francis Casey, passed away this morning. He was 92 years old. 92 years 157 days to be as precise as my genealogy program allows. I only had infrequent contact with him growing up (my grandparents divorced when my father was a young boy). But from those visits I do remember tales of work on the beat as a police officer in Chicago.
As an adult, I am happy to have taken opportunities to visit him, and to introduce my own children to their great-grandfather. Most recently was in the summer of 2003, when my new interest in genealogy led to a trip to Chicago with my brother. We visited Grandpa Casey, and his sister Margaret, and tracked down many other relatives who we were not fortunate enough to have met when they were still living.
Family trees are a fascinating thing. Genetically speaking, I’m Chris Casey/Dedera/Slovacek/Peter, but that’s way too long to sign on a check, and each of those names could be similarly split. And so the naming rules say I’m a Casey, and I’ve traced my way back to John’s Great-Grandfather Michael, a tenant farmer in County Limerick Ireland, who’s own son Michael came to America and ended up in Chicago. My place on the Casey tree passes back through my Grandfather John, and I hope I can help preserve his memory for my own children and farther down the branch as it grows.
Read John’s Obituary from the Chicago Tribune.
Care to climb our tree? Explore the Casey/Geltmaker family tree online.
If you have any information about John Casey or believe that you may be connected to my tree in any way, I would be very glad to hear from you! Please send me an email to: chris@casey.com
Brother with a Blog!
Hey, look at my bro’s blog!