Hear one of my stories on Youtube at the following link:

 

https://youtu.be/B4KGwMuhu9c

FAITH & FAMILY

As I sit here in the stillness,
While the crackling embers glow,
My mind casts dancing shadows
Of glad days long ago.

I recall my granddad’s whiskered grin,
His white and wispy hair,
And Grandma humming blissfully
From a creaking rocking chair.

I see my mother in her youth
And Daddy, young and trim.
I rarely ever walk these fields
That I don’t think of him.

Their council was the granite block
On which my faith took hold.
Their favor was the prize I sought,
As others might seek gold.

Throughout my life I sought to please
The family of my youth.
Their convictions shaped what I believe.
Their faith became my truth.

Their memories are my heritage.
Their achievements are my pride.
Their dreams became my legacy,
As through the years they died.

And when my robe of flesh drops free,
And I breathe my final breath,
Their faith shall bear my whispered prayer,
As, trusting God, I close my eyes in death.

Shannon Thomas Casebeer

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, & don't forget to hold your loved one tight.

I woke up still not dead again today.

Many people feel duty bound and inexplicably qualified to tell us exactly what will happen when we die. They’ve read a book by someone who claims to know. Having never died myself, I can’t claim to be an expert. I can’t share any firsthand experience. I can share what for me is a comforting thought.


ETERNITY


Seeing no one, I reached out anyway, velvet black silence consuming me; motionless, oppressive, and uninterrupted. The only sound, the last labored beating of my own feeble heart. And then, from beyond the desolate void that enveloped me, a firm hand joined unexpectedly with mine. My pulse no longer relevant, my last breath expelled, a rush of reassurance filled my soul, a warm embrace, and eternity took me in.  SC

Freedom burns within our hearts

I’m a proud, lifelong supporter of Old Glory and the causes, doctrines, and principles on which our American freedoms are founded. As a student of history, it’s clear to me that liberty and democracy survive only as long as our citizens maintain a strong, central government, dedicated to the task of preserving, providing, promoting, and passionately defending those freedoms at all levels, both State and Federal. When huge corporations and smug financial institutions are prized and protected above justice, propriety, and the public good, greed goes unchecked and evil and injustice prosper. When the balance of power in The Supreme Court allows for the wholesale purchase of our media, our judicial system, and our Country’s National elections, with no regard for truth or justice, the corruptive power of big money and unbridled greed threatens the very fabric of our great Nation.   When your candidate for office insists that your personal freedoms are best protected by deregulating huge corporations, removing protections for working people and the environment, providing incentives and tax breaks to big oil, and removing all environmental safeguards, you may want to consider a different candidate.  If you profess to be a Christian, and your home church prefers singing the praises of the GOP, to preaching Christ's message of repentance and mercy, you may want to consider other options. Ignorance and intolerance are almost inseparable, and despite what some will tell you, neither one is a virtue. In this country, everyone has the right to life, liberty and their personal pursuit of happiness. Freedom is not a privilege to be taken lightly.  Freedom is a right and a responsibility, a perishable torch to be diligently tended and faithfully passed along.  Freedom burns within our hearts, ignited by the founding fathers, and it falls to us to keep that flame alive. America’s most trusted and time-honored institutions are only as righteous as the hearts of our citizens, our most godly leaders only as just as the collective conscience of their constituents and the most telling measure of a nation’s heart is the compassion of its people. SC

Looking for a happy diversion? Look no further.

OBIE & Glad Days Long Ago See excerps from links on my website: ShannonCasebeer.com

OBIE INTRO

Reservoir Hill, Placerville, California

This is the home of my great grandmother, Meda Eliza Camp Daniels. (Pictured next to her husband Asa Wilder Daniels) Meda was born on Reservoir Hill, just outside of Placerville, in 1869. She was the daughter of Asa Steven Camp, who, along with his father, Clark Camp, set out for the gold camps during the gold rush of 1849, arriving in Hangtown in time to be counted in the census of 1850, and her mother, Laura Ellen Oldfield Camp, who, along with her parents, John and Eliza Oldfield, made the trek from Wisconsin to Placerville, by covered wagon in 1854. Meda’s husband, Asa Wilder Daniels (the gentleman at her side in the photo) arrived in Placerville in 1888. He purchased the Slater fruit ranch on Reservoir Hill, from W. R. Selkirk, and he and Meda were wed in 1890. In addition to working the ranch, Great Granddad was the Justice of The Peace in Placerville. His passing in 1937 was front page news in The Mountain Democrat. Also pictured are daughters, Gladys, and Myrle Daniels Schroth, and son, Jared Waldo with his dog, Spuds. Jared Waldo was my beloved Granddad. My Camp, Daniels, and Casebeer ancestors arrived in the Colonies prior to the American Revolution, and members of each line served during the Revolutionary War, to secure and preserve the freedoms we Americans enjoy today, and to establish forever, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  My great grandma Daniels lived to the ripe old age of 96.  She camped with us in the high Sierras each summer, until breaking a hip at age 93.  I spent many pleasant hours with my great grandma, many right here, in the home on Reservoir Hill.  Like my great grandma, my granddad, and my mother before me, I too was born and raised on Reservoir Hill.  My roots in Placerville are deep, my memories priceless, my pride immeasurable, and my heritage irrefutable and cherished. Obie is my tribute and testament to all that remarkable heritage, and to Placerville, California, my hometown.

See link to the first 18 chapters on my website.

Excerpts from OBIE plus poems and additional material are available in

"GLAD DAYS LONG AGO" available on Amazon

Don't forget; "GLAD DAYS LONG AGO" is still available on Amazon.