When I was growing up, there was always this picture of my mom’s parents that I loved. Black and white, it pictured my grandmother, seated in a pretty black suit, and my grandfather, standing behind her, just to the side. I think it was their wedding photo – but I’m not sure. She had 1940s hair that looked like she was meant to be kissing some boy just home from the war, and lips that said “notice me”. My grandfather stood behind her, in a perfectly pressed suit, young, with an open, proud, grown-up face. Her name was Ruby, and she looked like she knew exactly where she came from, and where she was headed. His name was Robert, and he looked damn proud to be standing behind her.
Later in life, they had two daughters, who went on to raise their own kids. I’ve never really sat down and talked to them about their mom – but Ruby’s daughters and granddaughters have always had an opinion – that if it had style, class, and humour, Ruby would have liked it. And if people around her had something to say about it, well, they were probably just misinformed.
It’s with Ruby in mind that I’m starting this blog.
This is what I know about Ruby: she always had my mom and aunt in great hats. She taught my mother that a good wool coat is priceless. She also ran a bar. Yep, actually, she owned it. (Owned a bar! This wasn’t 1990 – it was the 50s? 60s? Women didn’t do that!). She raised two daughters who supported themselves (and their families) their whole lives, and who, to this day, work.
More than that, she raised girls who weren’t afraid to figure things out for themselves; to make mistakes and start over; to be human; and to laugh at yourself (and others when merited).
So in that spirit, this place will be my (mostly) humorous view of the world around me. Sometimes you’ll get sappy, but mostly you’ll get what I got from Ruby, and my mom – and my aunt, cousin, and sister...an ability to view the world through a prism that says “Don’t you wish you saw things the way I do?”.
Welcome to Ruby’s View.
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