From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way

Josh and Jerry are Jesse Thistle’s older brothers, Josh being the oldest of the three siblings. Thistle does not delve into his relationships with his brothers; however, from the anecdotes he recounts, both Josh and Jerry are extremely protective of their youngest sibling, especially when they are children. While living with Sonny, a young Josh is frequently charged with caring for his younger brothers while Sonny is away, despite Josh being a child himself. Later, at the Children’s Aid Society, the brothers band together and refuse to be separated, and Thistle remembers his brothers trying to protect him from the horrors of the foster home they briefly inhabit.

However, despite their shared struggles early in life, Josh’s and Jerry’s paths diverge from Thistle’s. They make vastly different life choices—with Josh joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police—which may have stemmed from the older brothers feeling a greater connection to their culture and community. This perhaps gives Josh and Jerry a stronger sense of self than Thistle. These different life choices also cause Josh and Jerry to break away from Thistle at different points, as both grow tired of Thistle’s dangerous, destructive behavior. They refuse to provide Thistle permanent shelter when he is thrown out by their grandfather. Nevertheless, both brothers love Thistle: Josh flies Thistle back home for his wedding, and Jerry visits Thistle in prison. Josh’s and Jerry’s life paths are a testament to how the same circumstances can affect people differently.

Cyril and Jackie Thistle are Thistle’s paternal grandparents, often referred to Grandpa and Grandma. They take in and raise all three brothers after they learn about their son Sonny’s arrest. Cyril is a proponent of hard work, tough love, and the importance of family. He teaches the boys to use tools from a young age and is intolerant of mistakes, sometimes harshly punishing them for misdemeanors. Cyril loves the boys but finds it difficult to physically or verbally express this love. His harsh demeanor is a reflection of the heartbreak he feels over how Sonny’s life has turned out. He is particularly reminded of Sonny when he sees Thistle, whom he believes is repeating his father’s mistakes; thus, Cyril disowns Thistle when he discovers his drug use, something that negatively impacts Thistle’s self-esteem for years. When Cyril sees how Thistle has actively worked to better his life, grandfather and grandson reconcile.

Jackie is also a stern caregiver but is more expressive in her love. For example, when Blanche visits, Jackie picks up on Thistle’s need for maternal affection and dotes on him. Even after Cyril disowns Thistle, she slips him money and words of love at Josh’s wedding. Despite Thistle missing Blanche, he is aware of Jackie’s love for him, and her impending death motivates his decision to turn his life around. Even after Jackie passes away, Thistle thinks of her often and regrets the heartache he caused her growing up. He feels her blessing in the engagement ring that his wife Lucie wears, which once belonged to Jackie.

Blanche and Sonny are Thistle’s parents. They get married when they are relatively young, at 17 and 22, respectively; however, Blanche leaves Sonny early in their marriage, unable to handle his abusive behavior. Blanche later leaves their three sons in Sonny’s care and moves on with her life, visiting only sporadically when the boys are living with their paternal grandparents. She ends up in another unhealthy relationship and has a son, Daniel, all of which leaves her with little time and energy to pay attention to her older sons.

Sonny is an abusive husband and a neglectful father; his abuse leads to the dissolution of his marriage, and his neglect forces his three sons into foster care after his arrest for robbery. Thistle and his brothers barely spend any time with their father and have virtually no relationship with him. After Sonny’s arrest, the boys never see him again.

Blanche and Sonny’s absence in Thistle’s life, especially during his childhood, has a significant impact on him. He finds himself unable to articulate this loss and feels insulted and defensive when other children mock him for it. Thistle feels resentful about his lack of knowledge of his background and mistakenly blames himself especially for his father’s disappearance. On the brief occasions that Blanche visits him and his brothers, he feels replaced by his half-brother, Daniel.

However, Thistle manages to reconcile both of these relationships in different ways: When Blanche reaches out to Thistle while he is at Harvest House, he feels like he has found a missing part of himself. Similarly, he finds a way back to his father through letters that Sonny wrote in prison.