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About Jack

Jack Tyler Sundberg was born on August 18th, 2004 to Megan and Craig Sundberg. He passed away on June 1st, 2008 after bravely fighting his cancer.

Jack described by his mom:

"Jack Tyler Sundberg is my beloved three year old son. He is a most passionate child, usually either in the process of throwing a tantrum or giving endless kisses and hugs. He is just the most affectionate, lovey child you’ve ever seen. He loves to sing and dance and he has a smile that lights up the room.

Last year, when his big sister, Robynn, was in her first year at preschool, Jack was nearly a member of the class himself. He was always there before and after school and attended every party they had. He couldn’t wait to be a part of the class. Same story at ballet. Throughout class he would always try to take a peak in and see what the girls were doing. Once in a while he’d get past me and dart into the room, kicking and screaming when I had to pull him out. He just wanted to be in there so badly! This year he got to join both classes.

We just love watching him do what he loves and Jack truly loves to dance. His sense of rhythm and timing is impeccable. He can’t listen to music and not move. When we watch movies together he can act out every scene to a “T” without even looking at the screen. If we do try to get him to hold still for a minute he usually still breaks away during the musical numbers to get up and dance and run around the room joyously.

He and his sister Robynn are incredibly close. Only 19 months apart in age, they became best friends and playmates before Robynn can now remember. They love playing together, especially outside. As a family we very often go to Asbury Woods for long walks, sometime all the way to “the river” (otherwise known as Walnut Creek). They also love taking walks around the neighborhood, stopping at all their favorite houses on the way. Those would usually be the ones with interesting yard decorations and in our neighborhood there is no shortage of those at any time of year. They both especially love playing in the backyard in the sand box and swinging on the swings. And of course Jack LOVES the pool. Last summer was so wonderful, swimming in the afternoons with the kids in their life jackets. Jack absolutely loves being in the water. All summer long it was, “I want to go to Waldameer. I want to go to Splash Nagoon.” (Not a typo, that is how both my kids pronounce the name of Erie’s indoor waterpark.) Summer has been a really wonderful time with them, especially last summer when I enjoyed my first teacher’s summer off. Getting to spend the whole summer with them as an almost full-time stay-at-home mommy was such an awesome experience that I hope I get to repeat this coming summer.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been able to take both my kids to work with me when I’ve gone to teach Jazzercise. Jack has been going with me to class since he was about two months old. Everyone there knows him because he loves to stand outside the door to the studio and dance as the next class starts. He would beam with pride when everyone would turn to watch him dance at the door. He is a little ham that’s for sure!

I’m not sure how to end this so I’ll just say Jack (and Robynn) are my light and my joy. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to burst from the love I feel for my two chillies. I won’t even say what life would be like without them."

Jack described by his dad:

"Jack loves to swim. We have a 4 foot deep pool and he and his sister get their life jackets on and jump in. We’ve spent many an hour in there doing whirl pools especially when mom is not there because they make her sick. All that pool time paid off big this summer when we visited Rohoboth beach and swam in the ocean for 6 hours – his only dismay was leaving. Jack would sit at the center of the ladder and we played a simple toss-the-ball game with many many smiles and laughs.

Our walks around the block were always fun finding acorns and seeing the biter dogs and nice neighbors and the wall. The wall was a challenge they did every time we came to it. Up on the flat top the kids scrambled and in the beginning days holding their hands and later on simply walking next to them as they insisted to meet the challenge alone to enjoy the accomplishment. Occassionally we traveled great distances to see mom at the old Jazzercise OR just use the playground at the Zuck Park. Some evenings we were lucky enough to happen upon the kids baseball games that use the Zuck field. More than once we were caught in the rain but always a good time.

Wegmans is a favorite place for Jack and Robynn. They love “W” kids and the donuts that dad always feeds them (and himself) every weekend. We have our habits of dad buying coffee and the kids rushing the play area were we eat. Occassionally the “W” kids staff call dad to come and take Jack or Robynn to the bathroom. Jack was not always a great aim but he always gave me at least 2 milliseconds after his pants were down to start. The mess cleaned up – back to “W” kids and fun with the staff and other kids there. A nice sticker was always a good consolation but the balloon was the real treat. We would gather up mom at the checkout and head out the door. There was always a excitement building as we neared the exit. Within seconds of leaving the cover of the building ceilings Jack would always release his balloon because he very much enjoyed watching it travel in the wind to far away places. I would have cried to lose a balloon when I was a kid – of course balloons weren’t FREE and we didn’t have Wegman’s back then. Robynn eventually discovered the same joy after seeing her brother execute the release a number of times. Jack got to do this Thanksgiving weekend."