InsaneJournal

History Born the only daughter out of the 6 children of Samantha and Col. (Army-retired) Charles Winters, it's really not much of a surprise that Casey turned out the way she did. Growing up in Clarksville, TN - home to Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne, it was pretty much assumed that she and her brothers would follow the illustrious military careers of the other Winters, most notably her grandfather: Richard Winters of the very same division during world war 2. With her father being gone for periods of her childhood, and her mother not sure how to steer her towards more feminine pursuits while so fully institutionalized on the base, the girl was left to rough and tumble with the boys. She learned at a young age to stand up for herself, and would often get angry with her brothers or others for ganging up on smaller or weaker kids. "Not right to do it jus 'cause ya can!" she'd declare as she's put herself in the middle of it, whether she needed to be there or not. Her behaviour frustrated her parents, but her grandfather took pride in it. Through his war stories he only enforced her beliefs that those with power should use it to help protect, not gain more.

In the early 1990's she was old enough to understand some of the violent changes going on in the world, broadcast directly into her living room thanks to the local media. Footage of the war in the Persian Gulf, for which her father was deployed, scared her terribly andeffectively ended any thoughts she might have entertained of joining the military herself. The coverage of Rodney King and the race riots in LA fueled her anger for intolerance. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union gave her hope that there were still people out there who gave a damn and wanted more then war and unrest. The news became the only tv she payed attention to, and Casey snatched up the papers before even her mother could read them, scanning the pages and devouring any information she could find. There was so much going on in the world outsideTennessee , and she wanted to know what and why and how. It didn't make any sense to her how people could behave in such ways to other people, or more importantly, how so few people seemed to care. Especially there in the bible belt, where little children were taught to "love one another" while being taught to condemn anyone different. At 16 and unable to stand it anymore, Casey brought up her concerns during youth group meetings at her families church, but soon found herself closed off and asked not to return. They called her a trouble maker, said it wasn't her place to think about such things, and she'd be better off to learn to clean house and take care of a husband and leave the thinking up to him. That if she didn't calm down and learn her place she would find herself burning in hell. She in turn called themhypocrites , accused them of not following their own teachings and said they would be the ones to burn. It was then she swore off religion, taking pride at the label of "heathen" and deciding to live it up.

After graduating High School in 1994, she spent some time traveling before she was supposed to return to start in the fall at King College. She managed, through online friends, to make it to New York for the 20th anniversary of Woodstock. In that 3 day period of time she got high, lost her virginity, discovered she liked sex with women better, and that she was no longer going to college.Tennessee was too backwater for her, too intolerant. A couple of other open minded teens (one of which became her new girlfriend) decided they liked this spunky southern belle, and took her home to New York city with them. Her parents were outraged and disowned her, told her never to contact them again until she came to her senses and realized how wrong she was. After bumming around the village, smoking pot and coming to terms with her new sexuality Casey decided it was time she finally started doing something to try and make a difference. She joined the Peace Corps, and spent the next two years in Africa. Her time overseas was spent building schools and better housing and teaching people farming techniques. She took care of starving orphans left by mothers who had died from the uncontrolled AIDSepidemic, and watched many of them succumb to the disease as well. Colton, her youngest brother, was the only family member other then her grandfather who kept in touch with her. She sent them detailed letters and film filled with photographs of the strange and wonderful things she saw. It amazed her how, despite all the hardship and loss these people lived with on a daily basis, they were happy and kind, and celebrated all the little things with dance and song.

Returning home to the States she found a new purpose, and with her grandfathers help and the photo's she took back in Africa, managed to get together a good enough portfolio to start school at New York Universities art department. Specializing in Visual Culture, she took to the streets documenting everything from campus protests to life in the city. Her pictures became her voice, catching the harsh realities of the world with an undeniable truth. During her junior year she met Jules Beckett and could have sworn she fell in love. The the feelings wentunrequited , though she did find a sister in the younger girl. Jules was the grounding force she needed, a quiet voice of reason in her mania, and Casey was determined to make it up to her by forcing her to let down her hair now and again. Even after she graduated and took up a job as a photo journalist the two remainedinseparable . After a few years on the road she became restless. She loved her work, but didn't feel she was making a difference. Frustrated lonely for her friend, she showed up at the other womans house one night and bared her soul. The women talked all night, and in the end it was decided - Casey would go back to school and get her teaching certificate. After all she had been so happy in the Peace Corps doing that simple job, perhaps teaching would make her happy again.

She was lucky to find Goldfinch Academy, and they seemed happy to have her. More importantly, Casey was happy to be here, settled in one spot and watching the young minds blossom under her guidance. Two years later when the school had an opening for a music teacher she called her old friend immediately, insisting she come out and see the place, promising they would love her. She was determined to return the favor to the one who had saved her and put her back on the road to happiness. Now that she seems to have everything in one place, she still travels when she gets the time. She works over the summers when the students are gone as anindependent photographer, going on assignments for such groups as Amnesty International, the World Wildlife Federation and National Geographic and writing articles for the ACLU and GLAAD under the alias Marc Freeman to prevent any kind of repercussions coming back on the school.
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