For anyone who may not have heard the story, I’ll get the nickname out of the way so you’re not distracted. From what I understand, Caith is the phonetic spelling for the word “four” in Gaelic. He was Edward Thomas Reilly IV. Rather than having another Ed or Edward in the family, the nickname Caith came about.

I first met Caith shortly after the Y2K Scare had passed and civilization as we know it was restored; Orlando, January 2000. It was at a family reunion on Steph’s side of the family. We all stayed at one of the Disney hotels, so we got to know each other pretty well.

I hadn’t met Caith before. He seemed like a personable guy to me, and rather than that being a good thing, for some reason I thought “You better not be playing with Anne’s heart”. Suddenly I had this big brother protectiveness thing going, which really didn’t make any sense, seeing as she already has a big brother, who, of course, was there with us. Odd as this sounds, I think this strange reaction was because he made such a good impression on me. Sometimes my mind is a terrible thing.

 

They were married about three years later. Steph and I made the road trip down to Saint Louis for the wedding and associated activities. We got to meet quite a few members of his family. I have fond memories of those few days; concretes, windmills, ad many other local sites. The fondness of the memories persist despite the photos that show the furry-varmint-looking beard attempt I showed up with.

When they got married, that made him the “other” son-in-law, and we always had that bond. We ended up spending time together over the years, less so when the kids started arriving. Fatherhood definitely brought out good things in him. Right away with Kiera, I could tell how much Caith loved his children and how important being a good father was to him.

I spent enough time with Caith to know he had strong passion and opinions. He was a huge fan of sports, a Raiders fan, not either NFL team that passed through Saint Louis. Don’t even bring that up. Other than that out-state fan foray, he was loyal to the local Blues and Cardinals. The last few times I was with him, he said that he liked college sports more than professional, and watching his kids compete most of all.

When I heard he was going to law school, I thought that it was a bold move. I don’t know anything about the law, but I do know it’s a long road to get a law degree and pass the bar. I wasn’t sure if he would make it. That just goes to show that I didn’t know him very well at all. Obviously, he had the determination to make it through.

Steph and I hadn’t seen the Reilly family very much during the law school /growing family years, but in 2016, a great tradition began. Every Thanksgiving week, the Minnesota, Saint Louis, Chicago, and Arizona kin would gather at a warm destination. The first three years were in the Phoenix area, then Fort Lauderdale in 2019. Everyone was able to spend time together, staying in a big house. I’m grateful for every minute of it, even while it was happening, but especially now.

During the first Thanksgiving week in Arizona, we rented some ATVs and UTVs. Cath and I were on the ATVs leading the rest of the group, and he was really hauling. I’m a dirt bike guy not an ATV rider, but I used to race, so I set a pretty good pace, but was pushing hard to say with him. We totally gapped the rest of the group, even caught up to the guide. Yes, Caith was a man of many talents.

At the end, everything all happened so fast that it seemed like we were all living in a bad dream. I was clinging onto “communication issues”, clearly in denial. I couldn’t help but think about Anne and the kids.

I’ve known my nieces and nephew since “before they were born” and can remember seeing Anne playing in a high school band concert (kind of a weird date with my then-girlfriend in retrospect). I love them all. Getting through this will be one of the hardest things they’ll ever do, but they are strong, smart, resilient, and there are many people who love and care about them. I know they all have great futures in front of them.

Here are a few More Photos to enjoy.