Scattering Casey and CJ ... a final farewell

Casey and CJ have been sailing with us for quite awhile now. They've shared a small black velvet box that's been tucked away in a safe nook on Nine of Cups. We've been searching for just the right place to scatter their ashes and at last, we found it.  

Casey and CJ never met in life although we imagine they would have gotten along just fine. Both were troubled souls and both left us abruptly … way before their time. Our daughter, Casey Erin Lynn, died in May 2013 at age 37. In 2010, Christopher John Twomey, CJ to all who knew him, the grandson of a good friend, sadly took his own life at age 20. They left behind so many unanswered questions, so much regret and such deep sadness.

We'd been thinking that Cocos Keeling Islands would be a beautiful place to say a final farewell. It's exotic, tropical … with long white beaches that stretch forever and pristine, turquoise waters that lap the shore ever so gently. Palm trees sway in the warm breezes. We walked the island and explored with the dinghy and finally found just the right spot.

So it was, on a Tuesday afternoon in September 2014, we gathered island flowers and dinghied across the lagoon. We brought Casey and CJ to a beautiful, secluded beach on Home Island. We cast the flowers on the aquamarine waters while white terns flew overhead.

We scattered their ashes to the Indian Ocean winds on the Cocos Keeling waters and with new tears and comforting words, we said goodbye once again. Know you were loved, dear children, and will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.

Read more about C J Twomey on Facebook at Scattering CJ.