Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Remembering Ruby on White Wednesday


My grandmother, Ruby Opal Heath Boykin, was married quite young. She was an only child, born premature, unnamed for several days, kept in a cigar box near the oven to stay alive. She was a fighter from the start. She grew into a beautiful woman who was creative and talented. Her watercolors usually carried a message. She loved to have parts in the high school plays and was an avid "scrapbooker" before we ever really knew what that was.
She had beautiful hands and kept them soft with her nails always manicured. The white gloves in the picturs may look dingy but she used them for everything from putting her stockings to dusting the furniture and keeping her silver in tip top shape. She "journaled" faithfully and would have been a dedicated blogger given the technology was available. She was comfortable with china and crystal and at the same time, could clean a house from top to bottom.
Ruby loved the skies and wrote about riding in open-air planes that made their way from town to town flying to entertain the crowds. Pole sitters were of interest to her also. Anyone who would dare to take a risk interested her.
My aunt recently gave my grandmother's once-upon-a-time white gloves to me. I'm so thrilled to have them and will soon have them on display for me to see daily. She was a woman who was strong underneath, worked diligently when necessary and did it all in the most feminine way. There's a lot to think about there.


He was the love of her life.


         http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

I'm linking over the Faded Charm Cottage for White Wednesday. Take a look for some wonderful postings.

11 comments:

Jennifer said...

Great post. What an amazing woman! And you wrote about her so beautifully. Those gloves are quite a keepsake and a reminder of being strong yet graceful. Very neat.

Julie Harward said...

Thanks for sharing about her, a beautiful and amazing lady! And what a keepsake to have too! Come say hi :D

Nancy's Notes said...

Oh Karen, what a lovely and heartfelt post. Your grandmother was quite a woman, she had such strength from the day she was born, that is truly remarkable. I'd love to see one of her watercolors, they must be beautiful. Karen, what a wonderful and precious gift to get her precious gloves, what a special and rare gift to possess.

Karen, I do think you have "all" of Ruby's strong and beautiful qualities.

Love,
Nancy

Rust: Vintage Inspired Design said...

What a sweet post...how special to have the gloves!
Happy day!
xojanis

Tracie~MyPetiteMaison said...

What a lovely tribute to Ruby. What an accomplished woman she was in so many things. Thank you for sharing this with us, it's very special you hold such a special place in your heart for family history (my aunt does as well ;) Great to meet you!

Melanie said...

premature, unnamed and kept in a cigar box by the oven....God obviously had a plan for Ruby.

Thank you for sharing her with us. I am honored.

Amanda at 32˙North said...

Hi Karen,

What a lovely tribute. It's so important to rememeber those who came before us.

Amanda

Jo Anne said...

Mother would be so pleased to know how much you are enjoying her "things."

★Carol★ said...

Such a wonderful post! I love that you have your grandmother's gloves, and will be displaying them so that you can enjoy them every day. Grandma sounds like a remarkable woman, and I like the picture of your Grandpa. He looks like a movie star!
Happy White Wednesday!
Carol

Sue said...

Beautiful post! I have a lot of my Grandmother's things and treasure each and every one of them. Back then, those women were so strong and I'm glad we keep them alive in our hearts. It gives us strength today to face our own challenges!

Take care, Sue

Unknown said...

Wonderful post! I wanted to thank you for coming over to my genealogy blog...it is slow going but I have two so the other one takes 90% of my time right now....I love this story, and I have a question....what if anything is you Dad wearing in that photo in the snow???? :):) Looks like they were a fun couple! Thansk again! Sandy