CHAPTER 1
As a family the
Austin’s are disposition to extend their love and hospitality to anyone who
needs it. From the time they were growing up, they were taught by their great
grandmother Christina McLish White that all humans are equal and should be
treated fairly. This kindness, sincerity and love was passed down to Arabella
and then to Esmie. The Austin’s children even though no longer in the
eighteenth, nineteenth or twentieth century, their best cherished moments are
the ones where all children were welcomed. In terms of wealth, they did not
have much yet, whatever little they had they were always willing to share with
others.
Christina’s
parents were slaves. Her mother suffered from very poor health and because of
this, she died when Christina was just a child. This was a time
when women in slavery experienced ill-health during their pregnancies because
the slave owners cared very little about their well-being. They
were put to hard work during pregnancy and also shortly after the gave birth.
Christina’s father wasn’t able to give her the attention she needed. Growing up
she watched the heart aches of other women and children either dying or having
still-births. As an adult, she was a free woman, but nothing much had changed
then and because of the circumstances surrounded her era, she herself had a lot
of still births.
Christina
vowed that whatever she could do for women to let their children survive she
would and she learned from watching Nanna assist with deliveries and the errors
they made to help other women. When her daughter Arabella started having
children, she delivered all of her three children safely. Esmie was one of the
three children she delivered. Her prodigy over the years helped a lot of women.
It
is safe to say that without Christina or Arabella, there would not have been an
Esmie and the history of the Austin’s family would not have been told.
Esmie
Nerissa Grant met her husband Mercel Austin while working at a bakery. Esmie
was inexperienced and not really a romantic. Mercel on the other hand lived and
breathe romance. Over the years, their love and bond grew very strong. They
survive the impossible together. They held the keys to each other’s hearts and
the weapons to defend themselves from the people who wanted to tear them apart.
A vow they made in the sight of God to honor and love each other for the rest
of their lives and one they kept until the end of their lives.
Esmie
and Mercel were given the opportunity by their children to travel to the United
States. Esmie travelled numerous times to England, France, US, Canada and
Disney world. A dream that she could not have visualized as a child growing up
in the home of an ex-slave.
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