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The Husacks are known for always having an open door. Jeannie says their place is never empty. “There are always people coming and going.” Even when Bill and Jean’s kids started moving out, they couldn’t bear to have an empty nest.The couple have been foster parents for more than 25 years. “I love fostering,” Jean says. “I’ve never been without kids in the house.”
They got involved largely due to Tammy. With 10 years between her and her closest brother Tom, she was the last to leave the house and desperately wanted a younger brother or sister. Fostering has been a part of their lives ever since.
As one of the three families who foster on McKenzie Island (Tammy is another one), Jean has seen a lot of kids come and go. She’s had up to four kids at one time and even cared for one boy for 18 years, getting him right from the hospital.
And although Bill says he was roped into the whole situation, Jean admits that he learns as much from the children as they do from him. The couple remembers having a young native boy who enjoyed gardening with Bill. While they worked, Bill would talk English while the boy spoke Ojibway. “They were teaching each other languages,” says Jean.
The Husacks took their foster children on vacation with them. One year, along with Tammy’s family, they rented an RV and drove to British Columbia together.
Letting the kids go has to be the biggest hardship of fostering, but of all the children she has had over the years, Jean says that the twins were the hardest to say good-bye to. They had them for about three years and bonded instantly with them. “They fit right in with the family,” she says.
But that was quite some time ago, as the twins are now 25. The young girl is a cook on a navy ship and the boy is a carpenter. “I just enjoy the kids around,” Jean says. “I don’t worry about how many I’ve had or for how long.”
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The Husacks aren’t the only family on the Island that share this strong family bond, an acceptance for both family, friends and acquaintances. Some might say that living on McKenzie Island is like inheriting an extended family.There is always someone keeping an eye on your children to make sure they are safe, a chauffer for an emergency trip across the ice road into Red Lake is only a phone call away, and Island get-togethers, complete with activities for the young and old, are always a highlight.
There is something about the Island that slows down the pace of life and reminds us of what’s really important.
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