Aileen Keegan

"Aileen sat with me all day, our eyes fixed on the land we loved. Knowing, as it swept past us, it was the last time we would ever gaze upon it, our hearts were too full for speech."

"Aileen has made our cabin snug and convenient beyond belief. Her happy disposition causes her to make the best of everything."

"Aileen coaxed the steward to let her have some discarded biscuit bags. These she is fashioning into a sort of gown to cover the nakedness of several girls who could not come on deck. The first she finished this afternoon, and no aristocratic miss could have been prouder of her first silk dress than was the poor child of the transformed canvas bag, which was her only garment."

Oh, what a wonderful woman Aileen sounds to have been! She and her husband Gerald left Ireland in 1847, because of a famine. As immigrants on a ship (where they were not liked), life was very hard. But, Aileen, as her husband says in his journal, had a happy disposition that brought joy to herself and all around her. The sad part of the story is that Aileen and Gerald were never able to settle in Canada. Their enemies on board deceived them and, after suffering for days of wetness, cold and hunger, the couple died at a quarantine camp. Nevertheless, Aileen's optimistic, hopeful spirit is still inspiring others...well, it inspires me, at any rate.