The Importance of Being Earnest - Part 3

From our only girl to our youngest boy - Gus. Officially Aonghus (the original Irish version of the name pronounced Angus), Gussy to us and Gus to most friends. With all of our boys, we tried hard to select names that we liked in various shortened versions...which invariably happens. Neither B nor I liked our own shortened names (nor our actual ones come to that!) although we have settled on ones between us that we are comfortable with and others that I couldn't possibly repeat!

Gussy is probably a typical youngest of a number. Meal times in our house tend to be fairly loud affairs. As a consequence, he has always had to shout to be heard. Difficult for me to imagine arriving into a family at the bottom of a pecking order. As a consequence, he has always been one who has entertained himself without any assistance or guidance from anyone else.

His imagination has always run away with him. Always able to turn three boxes, four cushions, two upright chairs and another on it's back into the Wright Brothers' next flight of fancy whilst wearing a helmet that looked most like a flight cap from the dressing up box and a pair of swimming goggles....all the while, expensive and carefully considered christmas presents remained in the corner still in their boxes. Always been good at his own sound effect too! He will carry this into college this autumn as he starts on his course in Theatre studies, Drama...et al.

Early school days were never easy for a ginger-haired pale skinned skinny wretch with obvious Irish blood running through translucent veins, but he always stood up to it giving as good as he got, never whinging.

Having three siblings in front of him, he learned from them all over the years and I feel he has picked up goods bits from them all and turned them into habits of his own helping to form his unique personality.

My B is a very caring and loving mother, in fact, individual. You have to be pretty special to enjoy being a nurse, often helping people who don't want help or think they need it. It's difficult for it not to rub off.

They say the acorn never falls far from the tree. Gussy is an acorn.