Pen Pals

Casey and Emily

Casey and Emily, originally uploaded by mattyv424.

By Emily Walthouse

Not many people that read this web site know who I am. I’m a 10-year old girl from Woodstock, GA. But, like a lot of people, I knew Casey.

The first time that I met Casey, was when my Nanny (my grandma) took me to a Denny’s Diner to have lunch and meet her. It was three years ago when I was in the second grade. I was told by my Nanny that she did not have hair but it was different when I saw her in person.

We had to meet her half way between South Carolina and Georgia for lunch, so we were in the car for a long time. I’m not a big fan of sitting in the car with my two little brothers for a long time, but after I met Casey, I knew that the car ride was worth it.

When we met her and I first saw her I felt a little bit funny. A little bit funny because she had no hair. But after five minutes talking with her, she was an inspiration to me. She inspired me because I love to write.

While I was talking with her, the last thing that you would think about was that she had no hair. My brothers liked her, too. Billy, one of my brothers, talked baseball with her. Matthew was too young to talk about much. They both liked her and so did I .

By the end of lunch, Casey and I decided to be pen-pals. I found out that she was a sportswriter. I had been writing stories since kindergarten. Since we both liked to write, we thought that we should write to each other.

I kept in touch with Casey over the year by letters. She wrote back to me, too. We became friends by our letters. I was always happy when I got a letter from her.

A couple months later, I had my first communion. Casey came down to see it. She drove me home after. She gave me a beautiful bracelet with my name on it. I wear it all the time. I loved it when she was at my house.

Last Christmas, all fifteen of the cousins, all twelve aunts and uncles, and two grandparents were at the Springfield Country Club for brunch. Casey came, too. She gave me a wonderful necklace. That was a great Christmas.

I loved to see everyone in that room together. Most of all, I loved seeing Casey in that room with everyone. It was one of the best days of my life.

That was the last time that I saw her in person. It was so sad to hear that she was sick. I talked to her a couple days before her death on the telephone. It was a little hard to understand her with her mask on but it still meant a lot to me that I was talking to her. The last thing that I said to her was that she was a great cousin and that I loved her.

I wore both pieces of jewelry to her funeral. I cried so much. I met many of her friends at the funeral. They were sad, too.

Casey gave me courage. She inspired me and taught me many things without trying. She taught me to be a good friend. She taught me to be strong.

She taught me how much you should dislike the Yankees. Every game that the Red Sox win, I am certain she is watching. She’s probably got a Red Sox cap on over her halo.

I love Casey. I knew she is watching over me and many of us. I think that people like Casey live on in our hearts forever. I know she does in mine. I will never forget her courage or anything else about her. I love Casey.