When Martha passed, in addition to the funeral Julie, our eldest daughter insisted that we have a celebration of life. She was a great help in getting this done. We were able to get the Lombardy Club to host the event. We contracted with one of the local caterers to take care of the food and drink. This was all set up with little fuss and bother.
Then Julie decided that I should get the band back together to play at it. Martha Had played in Casey’s Fancy for 26 years, playing the guitar and singing. When Bill Graham had passed, I joined the band to keep it going. When Barb the hammered dulcimer player died, Martha said she had played long enough and dropped out. Since it was all guys, we renamed the group the Casey Brothers. We continued to play until the Covid pandemic hit.
The band shut down. Shug our lead guitar went into corporate law, Captain Kirk moved to Michigan to work for a judge, and Wes and I just went about other things. Julie insisted that I get the band together, no excuse. I sent a text to them, and they all agreed it was the right thing to do. However, we never got together for a practice or anything.
So, the day of the funeral arrived, and it was a beautiful ceremony. The church was jammed with friends and relatives of Martha. I mentioned to the priest that Martha drew a bigger crowd, than he did for most of his Masses. Following the funeral we all headed for the Lombardy Club. I had my banjo in the car since I had no idea if any of the guys were going to show.
Well, they did show. I said to Shug, we have no sound equipment, just one mike. He said in Ireland, they just sit around a table and play. This is what we did, and I will have to say, without having been together in three years, it was one of our finer performances.
A wonderful memory
Jonelle
Fantastic Bill❤️