Happy Birthday Casey

I can’t believe my son turns 21 years old today. He used to look like this:





Here he is with his older sister Vanessa;



Casey has always been, what? Busy, intense, angry, sensitive, brave, inquisitive. All of those. He has certainly kept me on my toes as a mother. He was always questioning everything and everyone. He still does. When he was a little boy he loved helping out in the kitchen, I always wondered if he would grow up to be a chef. At four years old his favorite movie was The Man From Snowy River. He practically had the lines memorized and said when he grew up he would be a cowboy and he and his wife would come visit me on his horse.

On vacation in Disneyland;




On vacation in Canada;



While in Canada I decided it would be fun if we went by assumed names for a while (don’t ask, I don’t know why), anyway, Casey chose the name Amaru, Tupac’s middle name. Something I used to do with the kids in order to get them to try anything new was to say, “It’s an adventure!” Needless to say, it didn’t last long, but it did become our family joke for a while.

At an Atlanta Braves game;



With his broken arm;



with his dog Scarface;



This winter at the yurt;



And with his sister and her boyfriend (his best friend);



Casey loves to read, he loves the outdoors and listening to music. Favorite musical groups: Tool, Tupac (forever), Nine Inch Nails, Chevelle, Tech N9ne. My son hasn’t always been easy to live with. At one time he managed to end up doing some jail time. Kim and I visited every week. It was a very difficult time for all of us. Here is Casey’s requested reading list while in jail: Autobiography of Malcom X, The Teachings of Don Juan, The Secret Teachings of the Tao Te Ching, Being Nobody Going Nowhere, Basic Writings of Neitzsche, Aristotle Politics, The Varieties of Religious Experience, The Trial of Socrates, and The Haight Ashbury. He read them all.

Casey works out at the gym; he loves staying in shape. Last year we went on some winter hikes together. He hates pretense and ignorance. He is willing to attempt almost anything. In only 21 years he has lived a life full of experiences and learning beyond many people of the same age. I can only imagine what lies ahead for this son of mine.