Hi Readers: Now, if the wasn't a really nice flashback? It just so happened to also be my longest chapter, coming in at over 8,000 words. Well, that's probably due to the fact that it was mostly a combination of a couple chapters. But now, I am going to go back to real time; well, somewhat. The truth is….I'm not there yet, as I am first going to update Gabby's Blog. Hope you guys like the update.
Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Six
The Casey Family Blog:A Long Overdue Update
March 10, 2020 – Hello loyal readers. I'm sorry that this update has taken so long to come out, but I just haven't been able to get posts out to you guys as often as I would like to; but after all, our lives have been quite hectic and crazy lately. But I'm pretty sure that you guys already know all of that, and if you don't; then I'm surprised, as it's been splashed all over the news. Every single moment of drama that's happened in our lives lately has been in the news, and I am not the biggest fan of it. Especially when, in my opinion, you aren't getting the whole story; heck, even when our company releases a statement on our behalf you aren't getting the full story. And that's due to the fact that they put a spin on it, both the media and the company do. And that's why I decided to write this update on my blog, so that I can control the narrative and make sure that only the things that me and my husband want to get out make it out into the world; but first, I want to start with something else. Something that I really need to do, because it's really important to me.
Before I begin this post, I want to thank some people. First, I want to thank all the hospital staff who were so kind to us in helping us take care of our children…both times. The first time this past April, when we had the boys. And then from December to March, when we had the girls. First, I want to thank Dr. Natalie Halstead; she truly was our hero in a time of need, as she knew how to talk to us. And that's due to the fact that she's our friend, and just knew exactly what we needed. I also want to thank Dr. Jeff Clarke, another friend of ours who also works for the company as he's both a veteran and a former firefighter; he checked in on us on a regular basis, and he made us feel like we weren't alone in the whole thing, because we weren't alone in it. Me and Matt had each other, and we had our family to help us. And that truly was a blessing, as it always made me happy when I got a chance to spend time with our family; with the exception of Ms. Stella Kidd, as we still aren't in the best place with each other. And it's why we're not talking.
But I do also want to thank Kelly Severide for being our go between, because I think that things are going to be getting better the further away from the event; and that means that we'll be able to hang out more, once it's safe of course. Because on thing I know, is that I do not want to go back to the hospital anytime soon. Not when I spent a quarter of the year in the hospital. We spend 11 days with the boys, and then just a bit more than three months with the girls; which brings us to a quarter of the year in the hospital .But that's okay, because our children are health; thanks to Natalie and Jeff. And of course, all the other doctors and nurses that work there like Doctors William Halstead, and Ethan Choi; as well as nurse April Sexton-Choi. And yes, you heard that right: April Sexton-Choi. Not sure what her new last name is, but she's a newlywed to her long-time boyfriend Dr. Ethan Choi, who just so happens to also work for us at CHP Innovations. And yes, that is part of our company. You see, we've done a restructuring of late; and I am not changing it.
Well, at least not unless I mention a company; like my own apparel company, which is no longer named ELLA Apparel. But rather, it's name is Casey Apparel like the rest of the company. And that just makes me happy, because it allows me to work under my own name. I love my last name, and I am so proud that I get to represent the Casey name; plus, my line is the one that's the most profitable of any of the company's products at the moment and I should've done that a while back. But now that I've done it, If eel like it was something that I should've done a long time ago. In fact, I've recently remembered something about a past conversation that I had with my husband while we were still on our cross-country road trip (see the early parts of the blog). And one of those conversations were about my last name, and how I've yet to take his last name (I have now). And that was due to the fact that I didn't want to take it when we didn't have children; but now that we do have kids, it's so nice that we all share a last name. It just sounds right.
Rather than Matt, Matteo, Noah, Bella, and Sofia Casey…and Ms. Gabriela Dawson; it's Matt, Gabby, Matteo, Noah, Bella, and Sofia Casey. God, try saying that one five times fast. That would be a huge tongue twister (especially if you say Matt and Matteo one after the other). God, there are already times where I don't add the -eo to Matt's name when I speak to him; and when I'm tired, there are times where I add the -eo to Matt's name. But he knows that I'm talking to him, so it all works out good; he just lets me know that he's not Matteo (while also making a joke that he doesn't want to be our son, for emotional reasons). But that's stuff for another day. Rather, we need to get back to the topic at hand. And that would be just how I've been doing lately. Well, I'm doing pretty good right now; especially as I have my little girl laying down in her crib right next to me. Sofia is just the most adorable lil' girl, and I am so glad that I am her mother. And not just to her, but to all the kids due to the fact that they are all the most adorable things in the world.
And I am not just saying that as their mom, even though I am. I'm also saying it as I feel blessed that I am their mother. You see, me and Matt didn't know whether we would ever have kids, because there were times where in the past we didn't even know whether we'd be together. And that's because of a huge fight that we had before two summers ago, but I am not going to get into all of those details all over again when I've already flushed them out of my system; they aren't important, and I'm just glad that we're past it. And even better, we have this life that we have with each other and our children. Children that truly are our miracles, and our dream come true. God, I still have mix feelings about that word. And I want to make sure that you, my readers, understand why. As you know, my husband used to be a firefighter; meanwhile, I used to be a firefighter-paramedic (with the rank of paramedic-in-chief). And that was why I really struggle with this time, especially when it was during a low. But he said goodbye to me once in a fire.
And yes, we worked at the same firehouse for those who are asking me that; we've basically been working at the same company for over a decade now, and it's never going to get old based solely on the fact that I love my husband more than anything; and I am very proud to call him my husband. But back to where we are now. And that's just that I want to get back to reclaiming our narrative that came with the story, which we've already started to do with the press releases that we came out; but like I said earlier, I want to just correct a lot of news reports that have happened over the past year which I am not grateful for. And when I say a lot of news reports, I mean a lot; as I am going to be going back to some really old ones, starting with the question that came out when our sons were a lot younger. One that basically accused my husband of abusing our sons, when he would never do that; and I want to say that really hurt my husband more than anything, and I do not appreciate that story being brought up ever again. It was so hard to see.
Especially when my husband has PTSD. In fact, I'm not even sure whether I have shared the fact that my husband has PTSD on this blog; because I think that is something that I should share, due to the fact that it could really help us. It could help us in making sure that the press understands that we may take stories another way when it comes to how we can react to stories; how we can interpret stories, and how it brings up memories for the both of us…especially Matt, as he's had to deal with a lot more than me. And I know that's not something that some women may agree with due to the fact that I'm the one that had to give birth prematurely, but I was asleep and sedated most of the time; my husband was not, and he had to watch me go through all of that. And I can see how hard it would be on him, as I have seen it firsthand; how a father reacts to his wife going into premature labor, in such a hard time. And then they have to watch their children grow in the NICU for a while. Honestly, I would never wish that on my worst enemy.
Well, maybe except Sylvie Brett; and by the way, I just heard that she got engaged. So, I am telling that guy who just proposed to her; call me at my work number, and I will make sure that you know what type of a mess you're getting yourself into. You may have seen one side of Sylvie Brett, but I have seen the other; and I want to make sure that woman is exposed for who she is, especially after she's already poisoned the well in Chicago. I mean, she almost convinced my husband that she was the victim; bitch please, my husband is always going to defend me. Oh, by the way fiancé, she almost tried to sleep with a married man! She tried to steal him away from me after she caused me to run away, and she tried to assault me when I was her officer. So really, you should run; and you should be careful when it comes to her. But right now, we are not going to talk about her as she's not important. Me and Matt's life with the kids is the one that's important right now. And I have to say that the kids are so damn adorable, and I am so proud that they're growing.
Oh, Matteo and Noah are starting to speak now; and I can't help but wonder if they are getting ready to take their first steps soon, or am I off in the timeline? I always forget when that's supposed to happen, but I know that it should be happening soon. But hopefully not too soon, as they truly are growing far too fast for my liking. I mean, those are my babies; they're the little boys that made me a mom, and they are already crawling. Now, they're getting ready to talk and walk? Well, that just seems like it's way too much. It's something that I'm not ready for yet, and I just want them to slow down. But I know that's not going to happen, as we also want them to grow up to be the most amazing little boys; whom have the biggest hearts, just like their father. And I truly mean it when my husband has an amazing heart, as I just saw this in my back account. He made a $1.5 million donation to Puerto Rico, and I didn't even know it, and I am so glad that he did that, because they really need it. And that's where I'm going with this blog now.
I'm going to also just ask that you remember that right now, things may be tough for you guys wherever you live; but there are a lot of other places who aren't as fortunate as you, due to the fact that they are still recovering from a natural disaster. And that's exactly what's still happening in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti after all the natural disasters that happened there. I forget if this is the truth, but I think that Haiti is still recovering from it's earthquake in 2010. Not sure about that, or maybe they're doing better; I hope they are, because that was something that I hated to see. And of course, I want to continue to see a bunch of progress when it comes to Puerto Rico. And that's why I have decided to add in a link at the end of this post that can lead you to the Puerto Rico donation page, but only if you want to give; because right now, people need to save up and take it easy. And that's why I'm still going to make sure that we continue to provide for the rest of our employees, which is something that I need to talk about.
I need to make sure that you all know that we are going to try our best, and make sure that we keep you guys employed; and we also need to ensure that your families are taken care of, which is something that we can always do. And thanks to the resources that we have, I promise that we're going to do just that. But now, I am not going to give you too much when it comes to the company; as we can do that somewhere else, and I don't want to steal someone else's job. Well, other than this. I want to let everybody know that we are hiring for work from home jobs, more specifically Casey Apparel (CA) is hiring. More specifically, we are going to make some masks; and we are hiring from around the country, with the hopes of doing it everywhere. And I want to make sure that people know that these masks are not just going to be used to boost our bottom line, because we are not going to be making profits from them.
Rather, we are only going to be taking what it costs to make them in profits, and a bit to pay our employees; the rest will be donated to research on COVID-19 so that we can all get out of this together. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that we can't all do something to help around the world. And that's why I have decided to include the following links in my post:
Link to the National Institute of Health – COVID-19 Resources.
Link to Casey Health Website – COVID-19 Resources
Link to the Red Cross of America COVID-19 Fund
Like to the International Red Cross COVID-19 Fund
Link to the Casey Store: COVID-19 Masks and Apparel
Once more, I want to make sure that people know that we are not going to make any profits from these products; and I can't wait to see how you guys support the COVID-19 pandemic through your donations and through the purchase of COVID-19 masks. After all, every mask sold is one more death prevented (in my opinion). Thank you so much for reading, and I am so glad that you guys like reading about our family. Have a good day everybody- and stay safe.