The day I am writing this is a major milestone in our family, as our "baby" is turning 18 years old today.
If I had to describe Jo in just a few words, or even just one, I would start with "unconventional", and "loves to buck trends".
Just the other day, my wife was telling her that this was true right from when she was born. As the fourth and last of our babies, one would have thought it would be one of the easiest births?
No - number three, Deb, was by far the easiest. As my wife said, "She came running ", as in the doctor wasn't there right away, and she had to hold back; even then, Deb was born basically as the doctor came into the room.
For Jo, however, she tried a different way than her siblings; she tried coming out sideways, which she thought was cool.
To illustrate how Jo loves to be different from everyone else, she and her sister Deb (who's now in first-year university at the U of R) had a discussion about the term "hipster", and whether that word should apply to Jo or not.
While Jo expressed her displeasure with labels in general, saying she doesn't want to be given any kind of category name at all, Deb insisted that the definition of the word fit her. As she understands the word, 'hipster' is someone who is, as I said, unconventional; they like obscure music and art, and they have a very individualistic style.
Jo does, and always has, had her own style, and this applies to music. Now, it occurred to me, even in this area, she can be a bundle of contradictions, as many teen girls are (please don't tell her I said that ).
See, Jo loves to sing; she's always singing softly around the house to her own tunes, and indeed (kind of like me) she loves to have music on, all the time - but they have to be her tunes. She does like artists and bands that are different from the norm, like the group "Bright Eyes" and their lead singer Connor Oberst, and Zooey Deschanel's group, "She & Him".
But guess what? She actually does like some older music, particularly if they've been featured in a movie she really likes (such the 60s and 70s tunes in "Remember the Titans", or songs from "500 Days of Summer", or songs featured in the TV show "One Tree Hill", as examples), or if her Grade 12 choir sings them, classic songs like "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel, or "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis.
As for her unique sense of fashion (and she wants to be a fashion designer), I remember her even as a little girl, she loved dressing up, putting together her own selection of fabrics and clothes for a unique outfit, as she does today. So, a belated happy birthday to my unique baby!
