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Over the past few years Ian’s greatest accomplishment has been to
continually strive to improve himself. He left a private junior high
environment that was more concerned about clothing than education and
voluntarily chose Anderson High School to be more mentally challenged, and he
was! He dove in and worked hard all that first year to conquer a level of
education that was significantly more difficult and each year since he has
improved. He also attempted various sports that first year in order to improve physically
and after several concussions began to focus on overall health and a
non-contact sports regimen to keep in top physical form. As a consequence, all
of us in his family have learned about better nutrition and exercise. Among his
greatest accomplishments is his dedication to learning music. In the past four
years Ian has taught himself how to play the guitar, the bass and the upright
bass. And, one last accomplishment, time management. Ian has managed AP/IB
classes, sports, music (including participation in several bands) to also work
part-time for the past two years. The dude is accomplished at everything he
sets his mind to.
Ian’s greatest challenge in meeting obligations to high school has been
to overcome undiagnosed narcolepsy for ten years. Like most people, my
family and I thought narcoleptics slept all the time, we could not have been
more wrong. Narcolepsy is the inability of the brain to distinguish between
sleep and awake, so while a narcoleptic is asleep the brain will try to wake
them and while they are awake can cause them to fall asleep. After having Ian
tested we learned that he has approximately 30 interruptions (like an alarm
clock going off every few minutes) during a typical eight hour sleep cycle. For
approximately 10 years Ian has been sleep deprived. We knew that he never slept
“well,” was always exhausted and suffered headaches as a result. Just this past
summer Ian obtained a diagnosis and began treatment. For the first time in
August of this year did he begin to feel rested. So, what did this mean for
meeting high school obligations? It meant that despite excessive daytime
sleepiness, restless nights, and migraines, Ian simply worked harder, with more
determination, while maintaining an amazing attitude. Even today he refuses to
acknowledge that narcolepsy may have held him back educationally, that there
was likely more he could have done. Seriously, one headache or one night of bad
sleep and you can excuse me for the rest of the day!
I steal liberally from Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his book, The Brothers Karamazov, through short
excerpts to describe the heart and soul of Ian Pogue via a description of
Alyosha:
Here is perhaps the one man in the world whom you might leave
alone without a penny, in the center of an unknown town of a million
inhabitants, and he would not come to harm, he would not die of cold and
hunger, for he would be fed and sheltered at once; and if he were not, he would
find a shelter for himself, and it would cost him no effort or humiliation. And
to shelter him would be no burden, but, on the contrary, would probably be
looked on as a pleasure. (Kindle Locations 369-372)
Every one, indeed, loved this young man wherever he went, and
it was so from his earliest childhood. When he entered the household of his ...[friends]...,
he gained the hearts of all the family, so that they looked on him quite as
their own child. Yet he entered the house at such a tender age that he could
not have acted from design nor artfulness in winning affection. So that the
gift of making himself loved directly and unconsciously was inherent in him, in
his very nature, so to speak. It was the same at school, .... he was a general
favorite all the while he was at school. He was rarely playful or merry, but
any one could see at the first glance that this was not from any sullenness. On
the contrary he was bright and good-tempered. He never tried to show off among
his schoolfellows. Perhaps because of this, he was never afraid of any one, yet
the boys immediately understood that he was not proud of his fearlessness and
seemed to be unaware that he was bold and courageous. He never resented an
insult. It would happen that an hour after the offense he would address the offender or
answer some question with as trustful and candid an expression as though
nothing had happened between them. And it was not that he seemed to have
forgotten or intentionally forgiven the affront, but simply that he did not
regard it as an affront, and this completely conquered and captivated the boys.
... He was always one of the best in the class but was never first. (Excerpts
from Kindle Locations 335-356)
Ian’s contributions to activities in the past few years has been
extensive. See his resume! He is devoted to school (AP and IB classes). He
is devoted to music as mentioned previously - oh, and he is exceptional at the
bass, truly. He has devoted himself to health and sports - ask anyone on his
Ultimate Frisbee team or ask him to bench press 300 pounds (he only weighs
150). He never misses a shift at work. He is devoted to his church through
missions and plays bass for the kids program every week. And he is devoted to all
of his relationships - see excerpts above from The Brothers Karamazov.
A Haiku for My Son from His Mom
Ian rocks screaming
Heart flows with deep empathy
Full of fun, joy, love
A Song that Comes to Mind Chosen by Dad
Better
Man
Pearl Jam รก la Ian Pogue
Waitin’, watchin’ the clock, its twelve
o’clock, it’s got to stop
Tell him, take no more, he wakes the
neighbors’ sleep
As we open the door, notes ring over...
We hear him sing, scream, play the bass
over
We know and declare our deep love for
him, can’t find a better man...
We see his present, we dream his next,
can’t find a better man...
Can’t find a better man
Ohh...
Talkin’ to ourselves, there’s no one
who feels love so…
He feels our feelings, oh…
Memories back when he was small and
young
And waiting for the world to come
along...
Now he is becoming, seeks fresh answers
We know and declare our deep love for
him, can’t find a better man...
We see his present, we dream his next,
can’t find a better man...
We know and declare our deep love for
him, can’t find a better man...
We see his present, we dream his next,
can’t find a better man...
Can’t find a better man
Yeah...
We love him, yeah...We can’t wait to
see his way
He’s becomin’, yeah...that’s why we’ll
keep on watchin’
Can’t find a better man
Can’t find a better...man...
Ohh...ohh...
