“My motto today: Say NO to unnecessary crazy!” ~ Fr. Jim Sichko
do not move
I was having a conversation earlier this week with Barbara Ison about the Caskey House. I’ve known Barbara for as long as I can remember, in part because she was so active and beloved in West Liberty, but also because her oldest son, James Paul, and I were very close in age, so that we grew up together. She has always been one of the kindest people you could ever hope to meet, and she was naturally generous in talking with me about the Caskey House. She spent a few of her youngest years living there as the granddaughter of W.A. Caskey, the judge who bought the house in 1926 and whose descendants continued to live there until last month. During our conversation, I learned that Barbara is also a librarian, having earned her MLIS from UK. She, like thousands of other UK alumni, myself included, had spent much time in King Library, where my office is located today. I told her about the chair in the ladies’ room down the hall that has been there since I started working at UK 25 years ago, and that the chair was probably there when she was a student, I think she said, in the late 1970s. Many years ago, I asked BFF, Judy Sackett, about the chair. She told me it had been in the bathroom since the woman (whose name I don’t remember) put the “do not move” sign on it, and that was thirty years before I asked. It is entirely possible that when I show Barbara this photo, she will instantly recognize the chair. I adore how life has a way of overlapping people across time and space. It has been one of my favorite experiences throughout my life. We are more connected than we can imagine, and sometimes we get to see those connections in real time. It’s such fun when it happens.
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