Birthday #3: My Mother’s Youngest Sister

The third (and final) consecutive July birthday in our extended family comes the day after my mother’s.

My mother’s youngest sister, Evelyn, was born when my mother was 19 years old. Here is a picture of Evelyn with her daughter, taken in 1984.

Evelyn was closer in age to me than to my mother. (She is only 8 years older than me.) So at times I felt she was more like an older sister or a cousin than an aunt.

I have fond memories of how she used to spoil me as a child, taking me for ice cream cones on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton, paying for them with her baby-sitting money. She was also the family photographer in those days. Many photographs in our family albums were taken by her.

She’s kept in touch over the years, coming several times to visit my mother here in Ottawa.

Happy Birthday, Evelyn! All the best in the year ahead!