Pierre Cloutier's
family
I met Sylvie Parent in the spring of
1991. We had a wonderful first year together. In the midst of the
excitement
of newly found love I shared for the first time all these activities I
enjoy so much to
do with the woman of my life.
I
introduced Sylvie to
sailing on a Mystere 6.0 (a catamaran similar in size and performance
to a Tornado). I
remember
sailing with her on lake of two mountains on a nice sunny day with a
good
breeze (10-15 mph) when she cried out: "Ca va vite en
tabarnouche". Our M6.0XL Full
Fun (based in Pointe Calumet)
easily goes above 15 knots on a routine basis. It is a very fast boat,
very stable and a joy to sail!
A
few months
later we were
skiing at Sunday River in Maine. Looking down the very steep wall of
Quantum Leap she
cried out "Yikes" but made it down safely. A few days later at
Killington I had the not so good idea to bring her into another double
black
diamond
run where I tought conditions were less icy. Sylvie
panicked, lost
control and skidded down into a tree. Luckily she escaped unhurt. These
days we
only go skiing when conditions are good to excellent.
More
on the Killington trip. After the incident in Cascade I decided the
skiing was done for the day and headed for the bar at base station. As
I walked in
the doorman asked Sylvie for some ID. Sylvie at the time had long hairs
and definitely looked a lot younger than her age. She smiled while I
observed traces of vanity on her face as she handed out her drivers
licence. I will never forget this precious moment.
In May 1992 on a nice
Sunday morning we discovered Sylvie was expecting our first child. I
was
ready
for this. I said let's get married, I will buy a house and we'll
raise our family. I married Sylvie the following September after having
lived about a year and a half with
her. She was 29 at the time, in very good health, and I just had this
feeling
she would be an excellent mother. Time would prove I was not mistaken.
The
marriage
took place in the famous Notre Dame basilica in old Montreal (a dream I formed on the day I turned 19).
Michelle Andrée was born on February 12, 1993. She has blue eyes like her mother and is
left handed
like her father. School reports are confirming she has a good mind. I
can sense
the emergence of a well balanced personality. Here's a project she did
on what makes her smile.
Recently Michelle
followed me so close skiing down Skyward (a very nice, wide and steep
black diamond
trail at Whiteface) she precisely turned into
all of my tracks. Jan 19, 2008: Michelle completed her level III
horsemanship exams with top marks (as per a formal contract between her
and I, she gets a DELL laptop for that achievement). I am one mighty
proud
father.
Francois Xavier Pierre was born on March 2, 1996. He also has blue
eyes and is
left handed. He works hard to do as well as his sister and
also brings home good school reports. He is talented in all sports.
Following his dad on ski runs has never
been a problem for him. Summer 2007: FX will crew Full
Fun
around the racing course. Now that gives me an unfair advantage in
light air. In heavier air, dad will have to hang his bacon at the end
of the trapeze wire... The little guy is a good rider too. January 27, 2008: I observed
Francois take a jump at the entry point of the expert trail Upper
Wilderness today. He lifted about 8 feet in the air and landed 20-30
feet below
into the headwall. The jump was beautifully done and I was truly
impressed. It
really shows he has now been skiing for eight years. I am also proud of
my son.
For me
skiing at Whiteface and
sailing on lake of two mountains with my family are dreams come true.
And this is only the beginning as there are other plans in the works. April 10th, 2006: Sylvie and I just came
back from Whiteface where
spring skiing was as good as it gets. Getting off the summit chair I
reminded Sylvie we have been together for 15 years. What a wonderful
day it was. Arapahoe Basin in May 2007: skiing the East Gully with my girl. The two of us at 12,500 feet of
altitude with Grizzly Peak in the
background. Arapahoe Basin May 2008: Sylvie with the ski patrol dog.
I cannot dream of better spring skiing conditions. Summer
2007: The children took sailing lessons with Sylvie at the club. At the
end of August I rented a 4.3m catamaran and cut the kids loose on the
lake with the cat. Well, there was not a whole lot of wind, but
still, they had lots of fun and managed to bring the boat back to the
beach. I was so happy I'm considering letting them sail Full
Fun at the end of
next season (Full
Fun is a lot of sail area for two
teenagers to handle...).
A heavy
business schedule and
the complexities of raising two children took their toll on our
couple’s
life. Sylvie
and I drifted apart in the years following the birth of our son.
Last fall Sylvie was sitting
at the computer station in Michelle’s room when I walked in and sat on
the
floor. When I started talking Sylvie immediately understood the stakes
were high and joined me on the floor boards. I said our
marriage was
headed for the reefs. We needed to rewind the clock and re-build our
intimacy.
There had been no violence, no china broken, I explained I tought it
was
possible. We had to do it not only for ourselves but also for the kids.
She agreed and we hugged and kissed like we had never done
before. A
weekend alone was long overdue. We retained the services of a grand
mother to look
after the children and headed out to a nice resort on Aux Coudres
island (about 50
miles east of Quebec city) during the
fall foliage peak.
I fell in love with Sylvie
twice. First with the 28 years young woman I met in 1991 and then a
second
time with the mother of my children and the mature woman she became.
When I told her about this she asked
which of the two I preferred and I answered the mature woman.
Now at age 51, I have rearranged my priorities as work in the
traditional
sense is
no longer a priority for me. Make no mistake, I love the work
I do
(otherwise I would simply not do it) and therefore I do not feel any
urge to
retire
completely. However, family, skiing, sailing and astrophotography
(IC434,
my latest deep sky picture) have taken
precedence. Here's a write-up I did on astrophotography a
while back. Oh! I forgot to talk about my girlfriend Angie.
Angie is a beautiful 6 years old Palomino mare with Impressive (a
famous stallion) blood running in
her veins. She is a powerfull horse with good temper and a strong
character (unexperienced riders usually get taken for a ride).
She has become our family pet and gets daily attention as it
should be. Time will tell what Michelle
can do riding Angie in
competition. Angie spends the summer
in the wild with other horses. Sylvie
has
also learned riding horses and enjoys it very much. Here's Sylvie
riding Angie. Nice pair!
Ti-Gris is a wild cat who visits us almost on a daily basis. He will
wait, sitting
on a veranda chair, until he gets his tuna fish treat. He won't come
into the house nor will he let anyone touch him. Who knows, me may
eventually tame him with enough tuna. Sylvie and the
kids loved him at first sight. It took me a while because I
was never found of cats - after all, they are predators who attack from
behind. As my office is in the house I find myself feeding the cat
often and I must admit I have come to expect and cherish his visits.
I am always happy to report to my children I fed Ti-Gris.
This
experience of communal love is new to me.
You can click on
the images
below to see full resolution images. I do not recommend you do so
unless you have high speed access to the Internet.
Here are the pictures of my family starting with me
sitting on a boulder near the dock at St-Joseph de la rive:
Sylvie sitting on the bedrock at low tide on the
western tip of Aux Coudres island:
Michelle Andrée standing near the main mast of
Whitestar:
Francois Xavier sitting next to the starboard main
winch:
A few more links
to beautiful high resolution pictures of my family:
Getting ready for Halloween:
Pretty as ever:
Look at the ears - WOW:
The crew:
You dunno what I am up to:
Onboard Empire Sandy:
This is a toy that
makes sense:
Onboard Whitestar:
Michelle wearing jewelry:
The Atomic
Team:
Mon Petit Prince:
et ma Princesse:
Michelle and her first love:
Time really flies (part 1)!
Time really flies
(part 2)!
Now that you know more about my family I will reveal one of my secrets.
Raising
my children so they reach maturity with all the skills and qualities
required by modern day life is the most important and the most
rewarding project I have ever undertaken. I am grateful to Sylvie, my
mate and partner all along, without whom this great endeavour would
have been impossible.
PGGC
pcloutier@poseidoncontrols.com
La Prairie, January 2005
