Happy 25th birthday to my first born, Caitlin Marie Casey
That's my California girl, Cait, who was visiting from San Diego this past summer | Shot by Dan
Right around this time, 25 years ago today, the beautiful young woman on the left entered my life and changed my heart forever.
Her name is Caitlin — we call her Cait — and she turned 25 today, almost to this minute. I remember that like it was yesterday.
She was born in Anne Arundel General Hospital during the 7th inning of the 7th game of the World Series. It was a Sunday, and she was about three weeks late, and that morning I’d woken Donna and we drove to downtown Annapolis for an early breakfast.
Afterwards, we marched about 3 miles around down until she went into labor. We were determined this was going to be the day.
When we showed up on the maternity ward, I got some dirty looks from the nurses, I reckon because I was carrying a cooler full of beer on ice (it’s a long story). Anyway, Donna was in heavy labor from late in the morning until late in the afternoon/early evening — not too long at all, really, for a first child.
And then out popped a tiny little creature with a head full of jet black hair. It was a transcendent moment.
Three more children followed in the years to come but that’s the delivery that will always be etched in my mind, the disorienting feeling of going from just a guy and a husband to a father, with all the attendant and life-changing responsibilities.
Today, Cait holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from George Mason University, which she earned at 20. She works in the medical recruiting field in San Diego.
And I’m missing her . . . You can’t see it in this picture, but she has Leprechaun eyes — medium brown with flecks of gold in them. They’re the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen.
October 25, 2012 - 4:53 PM
Thanks Dad! Love and miss you too!
HIPPY YARDBATH, CAIT!
All my children are special to me but there is no feeling like holding your first born and thinking of the awesome wonder of it and the new responsibility. I know you are proud. Happy birtday Caitlin.
Happy birthday to Caitlan!! Our children do give a different perspective on what’s important for sure!!
What a lovely young lady. Congratulations to her, and to you Dan for being a proud papa.
Happy Birthday to Cait!
You’re a good dad, Dan.
Awww Happy Birthday, Caitlyn!
PARTY AT DAN’S HOUSE 8:30 PM, BYOB!!! WE’LL SKYPE HIS PRETTY DAUGHTER!!
I’ve got one about the same age, I know your proud!
I am missing my October baby too. She turned 26 last week and is somewhere. Bahrain, Dubai or Sri Lanka. I hope to hear of these adventures soon.
Dan, from one proud papa to another, you have a gorgeous daughter, and I hope she has a happy birthday and you know she misses you, too.
My little one is only four and its stories like yours that remind me of how very little time I have with my little girl before she moves on to conquer the world. I hold her hand as much as I can, I tickle her as much as I can, and I make sure that I win every pillow fight to ensure I maintain my male dominance in the house… LOL! JK! If I did that she would put me in a nursing home when I turn 64!
From my family to yours, Happy Birthday, Caitlian!
Fatherhood is a sobering thing, even if we come into it with a cooler full of beer….
Happy Bday Caitlin…
Good, warm, heartfelt commentary, Dan. There’s nothing more important than kids growing up.
Congrats Caitlyn, Dan, Donna, and family!
A lovely tribute to a lovely young lady! My youngest son turned 25 two weeks ago – how time has flown!
Happy birthday to your lovely daughter…..Dan Casey, you sound like a dad that needs to get on an airplane to the left coast ASAP. My oldest is still at home at 17 and his mother and I have begun lamenting that we’ ll only have him here another year or so. They truly get away from you fast.
This should be a reminder that ALL children are precious. Not a single one of them is expendable.
Oh thank dear god she blindly follows the President. Or maybe that’s no god. Either way. Phew. Happy birthday.
Happy Birthday to your daughter. Sorry you guys can’t spend it together.
Happy birthday!
HBD!
What a lovely young lady. Happy Birthday and I hope she gets home soon.
Caitlin obviously lucked out when she inherited her Mom’s good looks. If she inherited any of her Dad’s wit I’m sure she’ll go very far in life and make her parents very proud.
Happy birthday!
Years being one of several units of temporal measure, it is only by custom that we denote our lives with them. For a fresh perspective that’s just as valid, consider that Caitlin has now passed 300 months in the world, so happy 300, Caitlin, and have a happy 301st!
I don’t know. If it were me, I’d be embarrassed to have my dad do this is public. It reminds me of parents who comment on every post their child makes on facebook.
I know that feeling of your “child” being so far away. Happy for her, feel for you guys. The best months of the year are the ones I know I will see my daughter. All of your children are beautiful.
On behalf of myself and about ten other commenters here, apologies Caitlin (and Dan) for misspelling your name.
“On behalf of myself and about ten other commenters here, apologies Caitlin (and Dan) for misspelling your name.”
Not a biggie. But I noticed! And Cait surely did, too. For a quarter century, people have been misspelling her name.
Like with all our kids, Donna and I didn’t know their sex before they were born. If she had been a boy, her name would have been Sean. We thought Caitlin was both unusual and Irish. When we told the nurses in the maternity ward her name was “Caitlin,” one exclaimed, “Oh, how cute! That’s the fifth Caitlin born here this week!”
But there are about 20 ways to spell it or misspell it.
I misspelled it too, and being a “Kristen”, I should be more sensitive to vowels. Apologies to Caitlin.
Suzie, does your disease compel you to spread your waste on every wall you see?
@ Suzie #25, I am sure a great father knows his child well enough to know if something would embarrass her. If it embarrassed her, would she take the time to comment on it? Doubtful.
Suzie, since when has embarrassment been problem for you?
Thank you all for the Birthday wishes! And thanks again for the very sweet article, Dad. For those wondering, the article did not embarrass me. I’m grateful to have such caring, proud parents!
For crying out loud, Screwzie, this is Caitlin’s thread. Let her have her time, why don’t you? We know you’re jealous of beautiful young women, but stop embarrassing yourself.
“For those wondering, the article did not embarrass me.”
And Cait is easily embarrassed! When she was little, she was so shy she wouldn’t even go to the counter at McDonalds to ask for an extra packet of ketchup. (She’d send her gregarious little sister, Erin, instead).
You go Caitlin!
I dunno. I guess some families are different. We just never believed in public show of personal stuff. My parents’ motto was “Show me, don’t tell me”, let alone make a public spectacle of it. That goes for public toasts, renewal of wedding vows, and buying billboard space. The most hideous thing in the world are these guys who propose on TV. That would be reason enough to break it off.
Watch this yo-yo crash and burn. Deservedly so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtPkxzHKLpk
Dan, seriously, go back to trashing her posts! This serves no purpose. Her vileness is already well established. LOL, we are all also well aware of how quiet and unassuming she is.
Just as well you don’t have children, Suzie. They’d be mortified by every post you make, especially this one.
No. Class. Whatsoever.
Caitlin – Happy Belated Birthday wishes. What a beautiful gift you are to your parents! I hope you had a wonderfully memorable 25th!
“Suzie says:
I dunno.”
Stop there. It says it all.
Dan- what a beautiful post! Caitlin and my daughter Kara have been best buddy’s since meeting at GMU. She is truly a beautiful young lady and very much missed! I hope all is well with you, Donna and family!
kathy
Let’s home the GMU teaches real economics instead of the quackery taught at Princeton by Krugman and his disciples.
If it is real economics like Milton Friedman’s brand, young Caitlin would be a conservative right now.
home=hope
The highly distinguished Walter Williams taught economics at George Mason. If Caitlin was influenced at all by him, she’s a rock-ribbed conservative right now.
I guess I can’t spell either. Sorry! Hope Caitlin had a great day!!
Suze, you don’t have to “home” anything.
They teach Austrian economics, the most conservative branch. She did her thesis on prostitution and why it should be legalized.
They teach Austrian economics, the most conservative branch.
So we can assume Caitlin is a great admirer of the great Walter Williams, distinguished professor of economics at George Mason, and a very strong conservative like Mr. Williams?
Why doesn’t Dan want to answer the Walter Williams question?
I can’t wait to see the response to that, Dan.
I don’t know what is supposed to be wrong with parents reading and commenting on posts their children make on Facebook. I guess being a friend as well as a parent to your adult children, is a concept that some just cannot grasp. That’s quite sad.
I don’t know what is supposed to be wrong with parents reading and commenting on posts their children make on Facebook.
Is Debbie one of those helicopter parents?
#37 “We just never believed in public show of personal stuff.”
Like hugging, I’m sure. What a sad childhood.
#25 suzie, every single time you post about kids, you show how you truly, really, don’t “understand.” It’s absolutely impossible to understand unless you’ve had kids. What REALLY makes your lack of understanding evident is the fact that you think every kid should be exactly the same as the next kid and react the same to any given situation. Or the fact that you think every mom and dad should parent in exactly the same way and do it that way with each kid. You are so clueless.
Sounds like Screwzie grew up ‘relatively poor’ in more ways than one.
#25 suzie, every single time you post about kids, you show how you truly, really, don’t “understand.” It’s absolutely impossible to understand unless you’ve had kids. What REALLY makes your lack of understanding evident is the fact that you think every kid should be exactly the same as the next kid and react the same to any given situation. Or the fact that you think every mom and dad should parent in exactly the same way and do it that way with each kid. You are so clueless.
Gdad,
I’m a better parent than you even though I have no kids. The main reason is liberals have screwed up values they’re imparting to their unfortunate children. It permeates everything they do and say to them. Your philosophy of life is based on a lie. What I may lack in experience, I would more than make up for in common sense and a knowledge of human nature.
If you’re teaching your kid that capitalism and attainment of wealth are inherently evil, you’re screwing your kid up. Or if you teach him that bosses and companies screw employees, you’re instilling a victim mentality in him that will harm him in many ways. If you advise him that cohabitation and premarital sex are “fine as long as you have protection” you are setting him up for misery and failed relationships.
I wouldn’t make those mistakes.
“I’m a better parent than you even though I have no kids.”
LLLLLLLLMAO!!!!!
Bold-faced lie. You cannot BE a parent because you have NO CHILDREN.
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 28, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
More fantastic fiction. Poor Suzie. So out of touch.
Contra, notice that the stupid poster #56 reflexively used “him” five times to refer to the child the poster hypothesized about. I suspect this tells us something about the stupid poster that the stupid poster tries unsuccessfully to disguise or suppress.
My child is an adult, she is also my friend. I read and comment on some of her Facebook posts, she reads and comments on some of mine. it’s what adults/friends do. It’s not a hard concept to grasp for most people.
Wow. I respond to Gdad’s post, then he forgot he changed to “Contra” for the response. Isn’t it time to drop this silly crap, Gdad/”Contra”? Doesn’t it wear you out having to keep this up? And for what???
But back to the topic at hand. I want Caitlin or Dan to tell us if Caitlin ever had Walter Williams for a class, and if she was or wasn’t highly influenced by him. Williams is such a renowned conservative giant, he has been a regular substitute host for the revered Rush Limbaugh.
Or maybe young Caitlin is a conservative and the Casey family wants to keep that quiet.
“I’m a better parent than you even though I have no kids.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
#56 Gee, suzie, I taught my children exactly none of those things. ANY parent would be delighted to have raised the kind of kids my wife and I have raised. What is it with you making up stupid sh** like this?
“you are setting him up for misery and failed relationships.”
I’ll be sure and let my wife of 33 years (after 6 years of dating) know that according to you our relationship is supposed to have failed already.
#57 Come on, Contra, that’s LMAOOOOOOOO. Get it straight.
Re: Comment by Suzie — October 29, 2012 @ 6:43 am
“I want Caitlin or Dan to tell us if Caitlin ever had Walter Williams for a class….”
——————
From one who refuses to provide any details about her/his alleged education.
Hypocrisy on steroids.
Tell us who was the most influential professor that you had, Suzie.
Is there a particular reason you guys are soiling all over a good-hearted, good-intentioned and sincere post? I understand that Suzie is just doing her thing in her normally shameless and tasteless way, but you guys are simply feeding the beast.
On a post like this, you should know better.
@56 most ill-informed posted: “I’m a better parent than you even though I have no kids”.
Comment by Suzie — October 28, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
That has to be the scariest statement I have heard on Dan’s Blog. Here’s what a child under the tutelage of most ill-informed would learn – in its own words:
1. If someone is not a crazy over the top conservative, they are: “moderate puke”, “stark-raving lunatics”, “liberals are retards”,
“selfish liberal bastards”, “tree-hugging bastards”, “stupid leftwing jackasses”, and, “anti-God anti-capitalist lunatics”…
2. Moderates on a school board = “leftwing puke-bucket school board member”…
3. People with whom you disagree: “frigging dumbass”, “0bama radicals, Communists”…
4. Describing others’ children: “gothic dirtbag child of a liberal”,
“a bunch of blue-haired maggots”, “another Big Mac for a diabetic American kid”…
5. Describing women: “fat-ass women”, “the feminazis”, “welfare
mamas”…
6. Describing low income people: “the fat-ass “poor”, “welfare folks”, “obese “poor” can’t get their FAT asses off the couch”…
9. Describing the handicapped: “gimps”, “fake-poor fake-disabled 0bama-voting fatasses”…
Can anyone say, “Poisoning the mind of youth”? Grrrrrreat role model, no?
Re: Comment by Kristen — October 29, 2012 @ 9:26 am
Are you sure?
Might it just be the acorn created pig in lipstick? That unrestrainedly fanciful and extravagant strawmen fabricated someone (such as acorn) to ridicule the right? (See: the “RWer ‘citizen-journalist’ alleges Ohio early-voting fraud” thread.)
That would be more logical than the alleged Suzie.
Re: Comment by gdad — October 29, 2012 @ 9:40 am
I’ll be sure and let my wife of 33 years (after 6 years of dating) know that according to you our relationship is supposed to have failed already.
——————
Add my wife of 48 years (after knowing each other for less that a year) to that “supposed to have failed already” list.
FWIIW, I consider the fact that my kids span the political spectrum left to right indicative of one of our greater accomplishment, as parents — e.g., we taught them to think for themselves and did not try force them into a mold of our making. They know our values, but were encouraged to develop their own. IMHO, good parents work to create free, mature individuals not clones of themselves. The fact that in spite of significant political difference we can sit down to a civil and enjoyable meal together, is another mark of our success (or maybe luck) as parents.
Once again, Suzie hasn’t a clue.