Thursday, September 23, 2010

Casey's Homecoming Part 2

Hey Yall!  Hope everybody is having a great day!  I'm ok, except I got up too early and now I'm tired!  Oh well.....that's life!  I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'm going to try and finish this today!!  By the way.....the weather is beautiful again today.....we got a few showers.....similar to what Florida gets on a daily basis.....and it feels good today at only 90!

I have been searching and searching for that video of Casey at the Hospital.....and I can't, or haven't found it yet, so.....all I have right now is 2 pictures to share with you!  I guess that's better than nothing!  Here are the 2 that I found of Casey visiting the Dr. and stafff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Ft. Worth.  I'm sorry but I don't have the Dr.'s name right now but I'm working on getting it now!






The emotional visit to the hospital and getting to thank the man who saved his life over 6 years ago was something Casey had been wanting to do for some time.  I don't know if he was going to give him the guitar early on, but signing and handing the guitar to him that day to him meant.....'Thank You for what you did for me over 6 years ago.'  There was definitely a few tears shed and lumps in some throats as Casey gave him the guitar!  I know, after hearing all about his accident, it meant alot to me, and alot of other folks as well, because if the Dr. hadn't saved his hand, none of us who came to know Casey on the popular prime time show, would most likely not have ever gotten to know this fantastic musician!!  So THANK YOU Dr. Collinge (got it!) and staff  for doing a great job of saving Casey's hand, and his life.....and in doing so, you gave so many thousands of people the gift of his beautiful music!!!
UPDATE: Thanks to Patty for finding the video!  And the Dr.'s name is Cory Collinge!  Thank you Debra for confirming that for me!


"The Hospital Visit Video"


Next stop....The Key's Lounge!  I was there, so there are ample videos and pictures to look at and listen to!  So many people got pictures and video at the Keys!  I will post a few of the BEST of the BEST for you!!  When Casey walked into that door, you could see the big smile on his face.....he was home!!  He was so excited to be back at the Key's and playing with his buddies!! 














The sheer joy in his face is so evident by these 2 photos!!  He was absolutely thrilled to be home....back in Ft. Worth and getting to play 'his music'......'his way'.......which incidentally was nothing at all like what we had seen on American Idol!!  He greeted everyone..... including 'man hugs' with all his musical friends already onstage awaiting his arrival!!  He took the microphone and said a great big Hello to all of us and thanked us for coming out to see him!!  




In the picture on the left, you can see that Billy is indeed on the stage with Casey at the Key's after his brother asked him to set in on one song, "Satisfied", and play Bass guitar!  Billy was beaming with pride at being able to play with his brother again!  And Casey kept looking over at Billy with a smile on his face that told exactly how he felt!!  The James Brothers were once again making music together after a long absence with Casey being on the TV Show.  And the crowd was eating it up!!!!  As you can see from the picture on the right......Casey was well received that day as the crowd cheered and shouted and snapped one picture after another!!  The roar from the crowd was music to my ears as I kept my video running for a bigger part of the time!  With it held high over my head, I was trying to get the best video I could under the circumstances of being squeezed into this tiny space!  Were we all cramped and sweating, with no good breathable air??  Yes we were!!  But did we give a hoot about how uncomfortable we were??? No....absolutely Not!!!  I would do it again without even thinking twice about it!!!  I knew I was documenting something that America had not seen from Casey on the show!  And I would not stop because I was a bit uncomfortable!!!  I'm sure everyone there that day shared my same feelings about the whole thing!!  But 'this Casey' that I was seeing in front of me, had me in total disbelief and mesmerized by the quality of his renditions of the soulful Blues that he was playing!!  At one point, because the music and his sweet voice were so powerful, I was moved to tears!  The music and his vocals combined with the awe of it all, literally had me in a place I'd never been before!!  I was experiencing the 'feeling' that the blues gives you like I had never felt before!  I had chills through me and was totally amazed at what I was feeling and witnessing!!       I knew it was great......and I was witnessing history in the making.

Here's what I'm talking about:

"Drowning on Dry Land"

"Satisfied" with Billy on Bass

"Gravity"

I remember how my jaw dropped the first time I saw him do this at the Key's that day!!!  I thought....what???  who is THIS guy and what have you done with Casey??!!   LoL!!  He never did THIS on Idol!!  It was definitely one of those OMG moments!!









Well....if anyone ever doubted he had blue eyes.....I do believe this picture would be the one to verify that he does indeed have sky blue eyes!!  Very pretty.....



Thanks to Kathy Terry for these last two awesome shots!  And thanks to AI and whoever owns the others!

Moving on now......next stop......The Stockyards.....downtown Ft. Worth

As the American Idol production started getting their equipment together to leave, one of the producers, the one in charge, I guess.....got on stage and announced that the Parade that had been planned for Casey, had to be cancelled due to a horrible thunderstorm rolling through the city!  They then told us that they would be headed to the Stockyards and to the pavilion where it would be covered and Casey was going to put on another mini-show down there!   He then proceeded to invite all of us down there as well!!  I couldn't get in my truck fast enough.....of course we would all be there!  I'm sure the Key's Lounge cleared out pretty quick and everyone was on their way to the Stockyards!

 

 Wow!!  I just love these Limo shots!!  All day,Casey was so amazed that people were chasing after the Limo and the police officers were stopping traffic for 'him'!  He just couldn't believe it was all happening to him!  What a humble soul he has.....and what he doesn't realize, is he could stop traffic without the help of a Limo....lol....!!  ;-)
I've often wondered if he had cramps in his jaws from smiling so much those 2 days!!  Hmmm thats a good question to ask him.....maybe I'll write that down.... :-)
When he came onstage down at the Stockyards, the crowd went wild again, screaming, chanting his name, and he saunters out on stage with one of those grins on his face.....like......wow....all these people are here for me, and I get to play again!   He sang beautifully, but completely different songs than he had just played at the Keys!  He did "Heaven".....then....."Blue Sky".....which has become one of my favorites by him.  Then, he called his gorgeous momma up to the mic with him, and together they sang "Wayfaring Stranger"!  It was just beautiful!! I still get all teary eyed every time I watch them sing it!   Here are all of them, just in case you might have missed one!

"Heaven"

"Ian Moore's Blue Sky"

"Wayfaring Stranger w/special guest Momma James"

I sure feel like I'm missing something here......I think he only sang 3 at the Stockyards!  If I missed one, yall let me know about it ok?

If I have my story right, I believe from there the family went to Casey's house for a Bar-B-Q, or maybe one of the other family's house, not sure about that, but there was family time and I think Casey got to spend a little time at his house and loving on his babies.....those adorable basset hounds.....Buster and Daisy!!



I don't remember ever seeing any pictures of the BBQ so maybe none were taken.  After that, the entourage headed to Richardson for the Wildflower Festival!!  This was Casey's biggest crowd yet!  I don't know how true it is, I heard through the grapevine that there were about 30,000 people in attendance!! I do know that they kept cheering after he sang Heaven and he knelt down on his knees and was saying 'Thank You' to them over and over.......it is a sight to see.....once again.....brought tears to my eyes!!  I bet yall are beginning to think I'm quite the cry baby!!  Usually I don't tear up unless it's something that tugs at my heartstrings.....then I do.....every time!!!  You can count on it!!  :)

 "Heaven, at the Wildflower Festival in Richardson, Tx."



It was time for Casey to get some much needed R&R!!  He had been on the go since Waaaaayyyyy before daylight and now it was like 12 am!  So he had been up and on the go....going on a whole day, it was time for him to rest......I mean sleep!  I think he rests alot of times, but doesn't 'sleep' all the time.  I just hope he got some sleep that night, because he had one more thing to do, and it was a biggie!!


It's the next morning and we all got up running!  We had to meet some of the Key's regulars over in the parking lot and convoy all together to Millsap, Texas, where Casey was to come and do one more performance at the High School Football Field where he went to school!  We got there about 9:15 or so and walked a ways and found us a place to sit and waited for Casey to arrive.  We were on the far Left side of the bleachers and they were FULL!!!  Probably about 2 or 3 thousand or more people were there!  Then we saw it......the Limo......and it was being ushered in by none other than 6 or 8 Texas Rangers on Horseback!!  Wow!!!  What an awesome entrance!!!  It seemed like forever before Casey finally got to the Stage that had been set up for him.  There were chairs too around the stage for his family and friends!  He sang the same songs he sang the day before at the Stockyards, but we didn't care......it was Casey!!!  Here are the videos and pictures captured that day!!
 But first, I wanted to post this one, that captures the whole trip back home to Texas in one video!!  I dare ya not to cry......I lose this bet....every time!!

"Casey's Homecoming Visit by American Idol"


"Casey at Millsap HS singing different songs & talking"






All of these photos were taken by various people which I do not have all the credits for, but I am thanking each and every person for each and every picture and video that I have borrowed of yours!  Thank You!!
The credits I do have are:
Kathyl, twistdfrk, (probably) Shawna and Jake and american idol.  Thank you so much!


And then it was over........"The Last Goodbye....it's back to Hollywood"


I thought about not posting the last one,because there's a few of us acting silly after the Limo goes by, but just know......we were still on our "Casey High" and not responsible for what we said!!!  LOL!!!  This is my personal video of us!
 

I really hope everyone enjoyed my step by step journey through Casey's Homecoming Visit from AI on May 13th - May 15th 2010.  It has been such a pleasure to go back and relive the whole thing again, and cry all those times trying to get through it!  I would appreciate any and all comments to let me know how you liked it, or if you didn't!  I'll probably be off for a couple days, I've got to work, and it's hard to do anything time consuming when I work, so I'll see yall in a couple days! 

Many thanks to each one of you who support me for doing this for Casey and you!


xoxoxo

15 comments:

  1. Here is the book created from HomeComing Keys Aug 9th...http://bit.ly/b3xmRr

    May 14, 2010 - Keys Lounge - Casey James Home Coming - GREAT BLUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Three videos that I shot of Casey below...

    "Satisfied" by Ian Moore
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N1rOCxicBo

    "Gravity" by John Mayer
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGHtkl_jLOs

    "Too Sweet for Me"....
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv99tUYh-Wk

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  2. Is that all you have to say?? After all this writing....??? Thank you for the pics, I used them but I used my videos, but thanks!

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  3. Oh, I loved that last goodbye video. You girls are a blast. I would just love to hang out with you for giggles. Thank you for all your hard work. Between you and Shari, I feel so much a part of this journey. And it's just fun to get to "know" Casey and especially to get to know some of his fans.
    Karen Smith (kdsaa4 on Twitter)

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  4. I loved the entire recap - just fantastic... I think I posted before you finished it... since all the details weren't there when I posted the above comment. THANK YOU for every picture etc... One thing though - I don't think Wenyen is the original photographer of pics -since Wenyen took my videos and posted them as "his/her" own... and then would not give the "credit" for me taking them... and removed my comments from the site where my video was posted on their site... They took them off the CJCC site - since that's where I posted them first.

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  5. Thanks for letting us relive this journey again,so wish I could have been there!!! But, this was the next best thing!!Casey, is just so incredible!!I really miss not hearing and seeing him that much anymore..When I watch the clip that they showed on American Idol of his homecoming it still makes me mad that they did'nt show ANY of his singing!!!Especially, since all his performances were so amazing!! Can't wait for the new stuff!! Thanks,again Glenda for all the Caseyness,LOVE IT!!!It's never enough PRETTY!!!Chris

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  6. Glenda, I really enjoyed your post and for the first time a step by step walk through of Casey's Homecoming. You make a good tour guide; I felt as though I was right there. Many of these pictures I haven't seen, so I'm very grateful they have been posted. I noticed Casey's resemblance right off in the top picture to his mom, she is a beautiful woman. It was an emotional trip to the hospital, Blue Sky - Stockyards, "I love you all so much, yall have cchhhhanged my life, it will never be the same for me," and the kneeling down at Wildflower....Casey has a way of just grabbing your heart and sqqeeeeezzing it until the tears fly. The music and singing was awesome as it always is. I'm glad you included a video of all you girls and all the excitement you were feeling when you were there, it felt like I was there too. Thanks again for everything.

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  7. That was FUN, Glenda! Thank you SO MUCH! Loved everything you wrote, all the photos and the videos. Especially the last video...that was GREAT! I enjoyed your lovely accent, too :)

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  8. GLENDA AS USUAL, YOU DID AN AWESUME JOB , ITS SO GOOD TO REMENESS, MOST OF THIS STUFF I HAD NOT SEEN OR READ BEFORE. YOU CAN FIND SOME GREAT THINGS .I WANT TO THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK . I PROMISE IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATATED. YOU DEFENTLY GIVE US A GREAT CASEY FIX. THANK YOU SO MUCH. LINDA

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  9. Thanks, Glenda, for the trip down memory lane! OMG...I love Casey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  10. Glenda, Wow what an awesome job you did with
    this recap of Casey & his hometown visit. I
    loved all the pictures, videos and especially
    Casey at the hospital thanking his doctors for
    saving his life. He is just so special in every
    way. Thanks again for all you do and for giving
    all of us this wonderful website. I know I
    would be lost without it.

    Susan/St. Louis

    PS And yes he does have the most beautiful sky blue eyes!

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  11. Thanks so much ladies! It was ALOT of work but worth every second! I'm so glad I've got everything in one place now!
    @ Kathy yea, I was publishing and editing over and over so you might have just seen it when I was still working on it! Haha my accent is so strong, full blooded Texan! Haha

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  12. OMGaaaaa I forgot about the "Goodbye Casey" video!!! Mike and I just watched it again.... too funny! We sounded like a bunch of HICKS with my daughter in the background goin' "mom, Mom, MOM"! I love it when Mickey says: "Ohhh I could'a ran up and touched his hand"!!! lol She sounds SO cute!!! And YOU Glenda with your "What-a-Ride....Absolutely FABULOUS!" What a great time that was... I got chills again just watching the video! I wouldn't trade those 2 days for anything in the world! Being there and seeing the real Casey was just beyond words and SO emotional! It may sound corny, but I feel like we were witnessing the birth of Superstar! Thank you Glenda for all the wonderful recaps and for everything you DO!

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  13. I'll say one thing about the accent, some darn good sounding music has come of it throughout the years! Loved the vid of you girls. I believe you were witnessing the birth of a Superstar, and you can say you saw it all. Glenda, just wanted to let you know cuz you were looking for the name of Casey's doctor before. I was just reading Shari's "In Depth Interview with Casey James' Mother Debra (Bybee) James, Part 2," page 3 and found the doctor's name is Cory Collinge.

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  14. Great job, Glenda. I've read this three times. Love Casey. He is a star in every way. The Texas accent-I moved to Chicago from Texas 17 years ago. I water my Texas accent every morning - keep it in full bloom.
    jwtexaslady

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  15. Hahaha!! Loving yalls comments!! Yep, I'm all Texan, and yes Janita, we do sound like a bunch of hicks!! I'm with ya girl...I would not trade that 36 hours for anything in this world! Nothing!! I DO believe we were witnessing a STAR being born!!! I truly believe that with my whole heart!! He IS a STAR already to all of us....but just wait till the rest of the world meets Casey in the not too distant future!!! He's going to be HUGE!!! I just know it!!!! And the 'what a ride' comment....thats exactly how I felt at that moment.....man....what a ride!!! I loved every second of those 2 days!!!! And will never ever forget any of it!!! Thanks to all of you who have helped me find stuff to finish this up, I just made a few changes, I was given the Dr.'s name by Debra and the video was sent to my email by Patty!!! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! BIG HUGS AND MUCH LOVE TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!

    @Kathy, I will take that persons name off the credit list! How awful that they did that to you!!! Some people are just plain mean!! Sorry girl....I really did not know it was yours!! Well, I'll give you full credit!!! :)

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