My Casey. He was a very intense boy. He would always be the first to lend a hand. Casey would give you the shirt off his back. He would feed you the last bit of his food if he saw that you were hungry. Casey was such a tough guy but he had the biggest heart. He would help his friends if they needed it. Casey was big on letting someone know how important they were and their potential. He always tried to see the good in people. This sometimes broke his heart because people took advantage of his goodness.

Casey was a hard worker. He loved to work with his hands – no job was too big or too dirty for him. He was at his best when he was working. He loved to scrap. He always knew every price on every piece of metal. He also had a good head for numbers.

Casey loved his mother very much. He was always ready to give a big hug and say “I love you mama”.  I miss that.

He was not always there for his children but he did what he could do for them. The last month of his life he made sure that his kids knew how much he loved them.

He would tell you the crazy stories of things that he had done. It would make you shake your head and laugh like crazy.

One of the problems Casey faced was that he did not believe in himself. He struggled with mental health problems for most of his life. Toward the end of his life, I saw how much he wanted to be better; he just couldn’t find his way. I believe he felt that he did not deserve the love we had for him.

This is just a small part of my baby. If you speak to his friends, they would tell you what a great guy that he was. He will be forever missed.

Submitted by Donna Bermas-Oakley, mother