The smiles, laughter and shared jokes are to be expected. Susan and Maureen Casey have spent a lifetime together as sisters, and Kellie Lancaster rounds out the group nicely as both daughter and niece.

Maureen was the first to move to Nashville when the director of the mass spectrometry lab in which she works relocated to Vanderbilt from the University of Texas. Three years later, her older sister Susan followed suit and began working at the Medical Center's GI Clinic.

“ I waited until Maureen got settled in, and then I moved to Nashville from North Carolina,” explains Susan. “I wanted to be a Vandy girl, too.”

Not too long after, Susan’s daughter Kellie headed east from Denver. Now the two carpool to work together and on most days, all three gather for lunch.

In addition to dining together, they all read copious amounts, complete crossword puzzles in ink and are avid gardeners. Susan and Kellie regularly volunteer for Vanderbilt Medical Center research projects, and Susan and Maureen love attending Vanderbilt women’s basketball games.

Kellie, who works in the orthopaedics department, is not as much of a basketball enthusiast as her mother and aunt. She instead leans more towards watching movies and spending time at home.

“ I’m Martha Crocker,” she laughs. “Because I bake, and I’m very crafty.”

— Whitney Weeks

Posted 3/06/03 at 10 a.m.