Father’s Day
June 20, 2021
James Casey. My name.
The first James Casey suffered a terrible industrial accident in England from which he received a monetary settlement. He loved his family and wanted to make a better life for them, so he used that settlement to bring his family to America where he found work in a steel mill in Canton, Ohio. His son, Sid Casey, had four daughters and a son. Sid lived in a blue-collar neighborhood two miles from the steel plant where he worked. He walked to and from that steel plant every day for 50 years because he loved his family and wanted to provide for them. My dad, James Casey, worked in the lumber business for 25 years before he saw and then took an opportunity to open his own business. He made that business a success because he loved his family and wanted them and their name to flourish.
There’s a lyric in an Avett Brothers song that says: I want to have pride like my father has, and not like the kind in the bible that turns you bad.
I learned from my dad that there is a difference between pride and arrogance, which can destroy us, and pride and humility, which can take us to great heights.
I learned to be proud of who I am, to be confident in my abilities, and to be humble about what I do.
These qualities have let me work hard to provide for my own family and for the clients I serve. These qualities have taught me to keep my head on a swivel, looking for and then being fearless enough to act on opportunities to make things better for my clients and for my family. When I fail, I take the blame, and when I succeed, I give credit to the people and clients who allow me to help.
On this Father’s Day, I invite you to think about the positive qualities of your personality that you got from your father. Some of us still have our dads in our lives and we can tell them how we feel and some of us carry our dads in our hearts. Regardless, they are with us and they influence who we are.
To my dad, I say: thank you for giving me my name; for all you do for me. Happy Father’s Day.