Mom - always remembered with much love

Eva Ruby Austin (McNeil)

If my mother was alive today she would be 114 years old.  Today, August 9th, would be her birthday.  Named after the first woman, her name was Eva.  But she preferred to be called by her second pretty name which was Ruby.  Of course, I have never called her anything but Mom.

Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible as well as a figure in the Quaran.  According to the origin story of the Abrahamic religions, she was the 'first woman'.  Eve is also known as Adam's wife.

Eva is a female given name, Latin for the English Eve, derived from a Hebrew name meaning 'life' or 'living one'.   It can also mean 'full of life' or 'mother of life'.

Mom was the mother of six lives.  I was the monkey in the middle with three older siblings, and two younger.

Mom was born in 1906.  That year, a massive earthquake shook San Francisco. Though the quake lasted less than a minute, its immediate impact was disastrous.  The earthquake and fires killed an estimated 3,000 people and left half of the city's 400,000 residents homeless.

Meanwhile in the quiet village of Tryon, Prince Edward Island, a little girl was born to loving parents, Elvina and Thomas McNeil.   She was a bright child with soft brown hair and inquisitive blue eyes; a little girl who liked to write stories and poems.

She completed high school and then received her diploma from a business college where she learned specific skills that led her into a career as legal secretary.  In those long ago days, it was uncommon for married women to work outside the home.  When Eva Ruby married my Dad, Guy Lester Austin, she no longer went out to work.   Instead her duties consisted only of those essential jobs women performed in the home; jobs such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and child care.     In my mother's day it would have been rare that a man assisted with this work.

Mom was thirty-six years old the morning she gave birth to me; an at-home birth that took place in my mother's bedroom. I was her fourth child. Two years later my little brother was born and the year after that another sister arrived.  

Six kids and a house to look after, Mom was always busy.   When she did have a little free time she would write poetry.  A woman of faith she attended church service every Sunday.

Fashion for women in those days meant having house dresses; afternoon dresses; and Sunday go-to-meeting dresses.  Always well-dressed, I can still see my mother on her way to church carrying her Bible and her purse in white-gloved hands with a pretty veiled hat upon her head.

Difficult depression years tore my mother away from her family; her parents and siblings, on pretty Prince Edward Island.  Of financial necessity, she travelled with her then two children to be with her husband who had earlier left their island home to secure employment in Toronto, Ontario.  The final four, including yours truly, were born in Toronto.

At the age of 49 her husband died.  Alone to raise three children, since the oldest three had by then married and bought homes of their own, Mom was often lonely.  Her faith kept her strong: emotionally and spiritually strong, if not physically.  Angina and heart issues were her new challenge.  This was not surprising as she was a woman dealing with many powerful matters of the heart.

Mom's life focused on her home and her children.  She was a wonderful, loving mother who always put her children's needs well before her own.

Left to right back row: Ken, Eleanor, Muriel, Dad.  Front row: Mom, me, Linda, and Ray.
This was the last family photo taken before the passing of my Dad.

When all the children married and left home, she was sometimes lonely but always her faith kept her going.  Church services; church and family events provided her social life.  She had a wonderful sense of humour and today, even as I type, I can see her laughing so hard that the tears roll down her soft cheeks.

I treasure the book of poems, all written by her during her alone years.  She was always very adept with embroidery.   A very talented woman, she loved to sing and to play the organ; mostly old hymns or the down east music to which I grew up listening.

Mom died due to a heart attack at the age of eighty-four.   She was mine for forty-nine years so I was, indeed, blessed.   But the truth of the matter is that Mom has always been with me, and is with me today.   I feel her around me.  I remember times shared with her; the words she spoke; the way she made me feel; loved and important.

I was blessed to be the child of such a beautiful woman.  I know that everyone isn't as fortunate.  Mom was an ordinary woman who lived an ordinary life with extraordinary patience, love, and determination to ensure all was okay for her kids.

Left to right:  Dad, Mom, Linda, Audrey, Muriel, Ray, & Eleanor.  Brother Ken was behind the camera.
The days of antimacassars -- the pretty one on the sofa was one of many created by Mom. 

Always remembered with love and understanding.  

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Mom.  I love you always.