At 11 months old, Ryan McCaskey was labeled a “miracle baby” who fought his way against all odds to be here. McCaskey has been in dozens of newspapers and made appearances on the major morning talkshows.

But 33 years after being shoved in a box with a blanket and airlifted out of Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, he still doesn’t fully grasp the reality of the situation.

“The story is bigger than myself,” McCaskey said. “I mean, did that really happen? It sounds more like a movie. I don’t remember any of this; it’s just what I’ve been told. It’s more like a legend.”

The story goes that in April of 1975, McCaskey, along with one other family, was flown to the United States as North Vietnam was bombing air fields and prohibiting planes from taking off. Upon his arrival in Chicago, he was adopted by the McCaskey family — which would eventually include a sister adopted from Korea – and brought up in Palantine, where he played football and developed skills in the kitchen that would lead to a healthy career as an executive chef in the east and Midwest.

“I got lucky,” said McCaskey, now a Chicago resident. “I was surrounded by all good things: great parents and great career opportunities. I’m just thankful that I’m here and am going to make the most of it.”

McCaskey will be sharing his story and his culinary skills at a fine-dining event benefiting the Gift of Adoption on Friday, May 30 at Courtright’s Restaurant in Willow Springs, where he has spent the last eight months as executive chef. McCaskey’s seasonal four-course menu will follow cocktails, a silent auction and his thoughts on how adoption has impacted his life. All proceeds from the evening go directly to the Gift of Adoption Fund organization.

Rebecca Courtright, owner of Courtright’s Restaurant, said that making her dining room available for the event was fitting, as adoption has touched both her family and professional lives. In addition to her chef’s experience with adoption, Courtright’s bartender and florist have adopted children, and she recently welcomed a new nine-year-old nephew to the family, who was adopted and lives in Arizona.

“When my brother and sister-in-law got him home, he asked if he could call them mom and dad,” Courtright said, still moved by the adoption. “We couldn’t be more behind the Gift of Adoption agency and what they do for people like my family.”

The La Grange resident expects the evening to be meaningful for both children in need of homes and guests who will literally bring their experience to the table. 

“Each table will tell a story that could bring you to tears,” Courtright said. “People who have adopted or know about it first hand and have benefited by the Gift of Adoption Fund will fill the room. And a lot of babies will find homes because of this event.”

The national organization has been inspiring adoptions for the past 12 years by giving grants that make the final stages of the adoption process possible. To date, the Gift of Adoption Fund has given more than 450 grants in an effort to help the more than 140 million children worldwide in need of families.

“The cost of raising one child can be more than $20,000,” said Tina Rounds, spokesperson for the Gift of Adoption. “The cost of adoption can be especially hard for parents with other children and parents adopting kids with special needs. But if the parents are willing to provide a safe and loving home, then we want to help make that happen.”

The organization hopes to be able to help 10 to 15 families with the proceeds from the event.

While some of the most momentous moments in McCaskey’s early days remain blurry, he is clear about the opportunities he’s been given and doesn’t take his good fortune lightly. In fact, there has been a series of serendipitous events that have happened in his relatively short life that have not only led him to become the person he is today, but that continue to define him in ways that are unlike that of a stereotypical adopted child.

“Cartoons and sitcoms with the messed-up adopted child or step children don’t help,” McCaskey said. “It’s actually quite the opposite. I think instead of being messed-up emotionally, angry and always trying to prove something, we are just more thankful for our lives than anything else.”

McCaskey has been thankful for his Irish-Catholic upbringing, in which he felt like a normal boy.

Well, almost normal.

As an eighth grader, McCaskey would come home after football practice and spend his evenings in the kitchen. He wasn’t playing video games, chatting on the phone or hanging out with his friends. Instead, he was preparing the family’s dinner; which he did every night after his mom broke her wrist.

“I live my life like I have been given this opportunity,” McCaskey said. “I was lucky to get here; I’m happy to be here, and I like to live life to the fullest. I think the way I live ties into being adopted.”

Tom Jackson, director of publicity at the Sunny Ridge Family Center in Bolingbrook—which has been providing domestic and international adoption services for the past 80 years — says that the center often counsels parents to approach their new children simply as children and to know that while they might come with a certain set of issues, that the challenges are not necessarily emotional.

“We educate parents to be patient and let the relationship evolve,” Jackson said. “But to also consider that you may need to provide more than love. With certain issues, such as mixed-raced families, there has to be a sensitivity to the child’s culture involved.”

Although McCaskey has infused the evening’s menu with his own cultural influences, he says not to expect authentic Vietnamese cooking from his kitchen. In fact, he says that at 5 feet, 7 inches and 220 pounds, there isn’t much about him that would be considered Asian.

“Asian people look very different from me. I’m probably the biggest Asian guy you’ll ever see. I’m a big guy,” McCaskey said. “And I’m horrible at making spring rolls.”

But he says that with age has come more curiosity about his roots, and he has therefore started frequenting a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown once a week and has been inspired by another chef who lives in Vietnam to return to his homeland.
But his more immediate plans include success here in the states, which he believes will finally merit the public’s attention.

“I wish I had more of a success story,” McCaskey said. “I’ll be more inclined to put myself out there after I’ve opened my own restaurant; then I can truly say that I went from the streets of Vietnam to being a four-star chef. Then I can show people that you can do anything, regardless of your story.”

The Gift of Adoption Fund fine-dining Event is at 7 p.m. at Courtright’s Restaurant, at 8989 S. Archer Ave., Willow Springs. Tickets are $125 per person, $600 for a private booth for four or $1000 for a table of eight. For reservations, please call (708) 839-8000, or visit their Web site at www.courtrights.com