Jack-the-Lou

This is my Jack. I've wanted to blog about him for a long time but it was important to me that I capture him accurately; not an easy task with this complex, wonderful fella.

Jack will be 13 years old in a month and of my three children, time seems to have gone more quickly with him. Jack is not the classic middle child; he is gentle and demands almost nothing of anyone. He goes with the flow and has such a practical nature. Because he is so quiet.... hold on. Quick clarification here. He is quiet everywhere in the world other than home. At home? Non-stop entertainment, energy and talking. Holy Cats, this boy can talk and he is so very funny. It's rare for a day to pass where Jack doesn't make me laugh until I cry. But I digress .... because he is so quiet and is sandwiched between to very extroverted, vivacious siblings, it would be easy to miss out on the beauty that is 'Jack' (Just Jack!). That doesn't tend to happen, however because there is something about Jack that draws people to him.

I have so much to say about him that my fingers on the keyboard can't keep up to my thoughts.... so I'm going to put it in bullet form.

Jack Facts

• Jack didn't talk until he was 3. I'm convinced that the only reason for this is that he didn't really have anything he felt compelled to say until that point.


• When he did start to talk it wasn't long before he was speaking in full sentences and conveying profound thoughts. One of the first sentences I remember coming from Jack was "Mommy? Do aliens believe in Homo Sapiens?" Huh??!!! Classic Jack. Commonly people ask one another if they believe in aliens. Jack, my little 'out-of-the-box' thinker saw it from a completely different angle.


• As you can see in the photo above, Jack had a Mohawk last summer. Jack had been growing his hair out with a plan to have a monster Mohawk with liberty spikes. He didn't mention it to me until his hair was long enough to do it. People were so shocked because Jack is such a sweet, gentle soul and with the Mohawk, he looks like a rebellious anarchist. He loves the shock value of that contrast. He's considering Dreads next.


• Jack is one of the funniest people I know. It's effortless for him. We both love 'The Family Guy' (I know, I know.... I'm a bad mother, but it's so freakin' funny!!!) and Jack can do a dead-on imitation of all the male characters. I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've heard my boy mimic 'Herbert the Pervert'.


• Jack is amazing with animals. He seems to have an intrinsic understanding of them and they in turn are drawn to him. We have 2 cats and a dog and they all want to sleep with him every night. Four beds in the house, but they all want Jack.


• Jack can act. Who knew? This quiet, shy guy unleashed his inner thespian recently (in a musical, no less!) where he played a rebel Humpty Dumpty. He nailed it and people in the community were stunned and delighted to see this side of Jack.

Jack has big plans. In grades 3, 5 and 7 he had teachers who made a huge difference in his life (Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Johnston, Mr. Brellisford and Mrs. Leitch). Their influence in Jack's world has contributed to his desire to be a teacher..... but he also wants to see the world. He's decided that for him, there is no better way to see the world than to teach everywhere that he can. I have visions of Jack calling me (you better call your Mamma!!!) from the four corners of the earth, making me laugh with his funny stories. He's a determined soul and I have no doubt that he will achieve everything he puts his mind to.

Yes, I'm his Mom and I have to say it, but it's so true; the world is a better place because Jack Louis Gustafson is in it. How do you not love a guy who turns his brother's hoodie (see picture at the top of the page) into a chicken costume just to make his Mom laugh?? Love you, Louis!!!

Subtle Influences

This is a picture of Connor when he was about 3 or 4 years old. I made him smile for the camera when all he wanted to do was play with his cousins.... hence the grimace. "Just get it over with, Ma!!"

I was telling a story to a close friend today about Connor when he was this age... my friend said "You need to blog that story!!!" and he was right. I really do, so here it is.

When Connor was around 4 years old, I had to take him to the Doctor for a check up. Connor loved Dr. Kelland and still does to this day. As we drove into town, he told me how excited he was to be seeing her. I told him "Connor, Dr. Kelland is away so you'll be seeing a different Doctor today." Connor asked "What's her name?" I said "It's not a 'she'; you'll be seeing a boy Doctor today." I could hear him giggling in his car seat behind me when he said "Oh, Mommy! Boys can't be Doctors!!"

When I told Dr. Kelland the story, she threw her hands up in the air and said "I can retire! My work is done!!"

Recently I was at a luncheon titled 'Women in Leadership'. One of the speakers was our (as of last night) newly elected MLA, Katrine Conroy. She spoke of her career journey and the stereotypes she's had to overcome as a woman who has worked in non-traditional employment settings. She's a pipefitter, for cryin' out loud. When she started working in that field, the plant she worked at didn't have a women's washroom.

At the luncheon, I told the group of women the story about Connor and the Doctor's visit. I told Katrine how I appreciated the path she's chosen and what a difference just her presence made for young people and their perception of what it means to be a politician..... and a woman.

When I was growing up, I was asked "Do you want to be a teacher or a nurse?" Those days are long gone and there is something wonderful about the fact that young women now have no idea just how recently women had such limitations put on them.

You've come a long way, baby..... :-))

Seeso

This post is about my beautiful, sweet, intelligent, funny sister. It's entirely possible that she is my favourite person on the planet. Most of you know her as 'Karen' but to me, she is 'Seeso'.

Karen is 2 years younger than I am and I simply cannot imagine what my life would be like without her. In this picture, she is 2 and I'm 4 and we've just woken up from a nap. I still remember our Mom taking this picture and I also remember how warm and tiny and yummy she felt beside me under the blankets.

Growing up, Glen and Darryl were 'the boys' and Karen and I were 'the girls'. Karen was always my little shadow and my built in best friend. We slept together for many years in a double bed. My thrifty Mom had sewn two single fitted sheets into a double fitted sheet and there was a seam down the center of the bed because of it. If Karen slid so much as a toe across that line, I was yelling for Mom, tattling that Karen was on MY side of the bed. When my parents renovated and I finally had my own room, I spent more than one night stuffing dolls and clothing in my bed so it would appear that I was sleeping in it in order to sneak into her room to sleep with her.

Growing up, we had the normal fights that sisters have over clothes being borrowed without permission, chore distribution and make-up (yes, I did steal your fabulous blush brush; it's in my make-up bag as I type this!), but we have always been very, very close. I don't remember when it happened, but there was a very clear moment when she went from being my 'little sister' to being my 'seeso'. I'm still very, very protective of her but only because I love her, not because she is younger than me or requires my protection.

Karen is a person who is liked by everyone. She's always smiling and is so kind.... but the formidible Pelchat-woman spirit is firmly planted in her soul too. Karen has always amazed me with her ability to have very clear boundaries and an ability to say 'no' unequivocally when she needs to. I have learned so much about that from her.

Although we were close growing up, I was always surprised at how different we were. I saw the two of us a polar opposites and was always a bit sad that we weren't more alike, however as we grow older, the similarities are becoming more obvious... shockingly so actually. We laugh alike. We have similar mannerisms. We use the same phrases. We both have crazy green eyes. We think alike in so many ways and it's such a wonderful feeling to have someone in the world who sees things in a similar way. She makes me feel like less of a freak somehow.

When I moved to Nakusp, I knew I had to lure her here. I helped her to find a job and once she found a man, I knew she was mine for good! She lived here for 15 years then found a job in Nelson. At first I didn't believe her and once I realized that she was serious, I ignored her. I wouldn't talk to her. I wasn't mean.... I just needed to detach and build a little wall around my heart so that it wouldn't hurt quite as much when she left. She assured me that we would see MORE of each other once she moved, something that I thought was completely ridiculous. Our offices were across the street from each other for God's sake! But.... she was right. We see far more of one another now that she lives 2 hours away from me and our visits are much more intimate. We are closer than we've ever been.

Karen understands me. I can tell her anything.... anything and I know without hesitation that she won't judge me, no matter what I say. She loves me unconditionally and is always there me, as I am for her.

I love her ferociously and I'm grateful every single day of my life for the gift of my Seeso.

(In the above picture, Karen has just finished a sambucca shooter that was lit on fire while inside her mouth. I kid you not. She may look like a sweet little lamb but there is a very kooky girl under all of those curls.)