1994: The Pellettiere Part of Ruth Kellogg's Family

There we are in the living room of the house in Palatine:  (couch) Kate (24), Diane, Dan, (front) Lynn (28), Cindy (27).  As you can see from the little Santa in the foreground, this picture was on our
Christmas card, so probably taken within a week of Thanksgiving.

Nov. 24, 1994 - Thanksgiving
"Everything went well today, except that the turkey took an hour longer to cook than the directions indicated!  We ate everything except the turkey - then had it later - and dessert still later.

Thought the meal was good.  Vi brought ravioli from a store near her - and sauce.  She brought some artichokes as well as cheese.  The artichokes were disappointing.  Also had a fruit salad, a broccoli & carrot dish with horseradish sauce, sweet potatoes, oven-roasted potatoes, herb scones, Applejack Pie, French Chocolate Cake - plus the turkey and traditional Bread Stuffing.

The stuffing recipe's origin is lost in antiquity.  It probably was Mrs. Millard's, the woman who raised my grandmother when her own mother, Viola Hawley Weekes, died in 1896.  ..I must check the 1900 census & see if William Weekes is on it & if any of the children are shown with him.  

Vi and Dorothy Heitschmidt both joined us for dinner.  Kate picked them up & Dan & I drove them back to Vi's.  Jim was here too.  He had had a dental patient - emergency - in the morning.  He was working on Lynn's car too.  Was in a very good mood  in the afternoon .  He did a lot of the dishes with Dorothy drying for him!  Jim's back was bothering him."

Vi was Dan's much-older sister and Dorothy was one of her closest friends.  Jim Waldman and Lynn were engaged and would marry on June 3, 1995...The grandmother I referred to is Lottie Meredith, Ruth's mother.  Lottie was 9 years old when her mother died of "chronic gatarrhal gastritis" when she was 38.  Two of the 4 children had died.  Only Lottie (Carlotta Lola Lucretia) and her younger brother, Lewis Henry, were left with William, their father. 

Two Thanksgivings - 1925 (diary) and 1957 (photo)

The 1957 photo, taken in the dining room at 1210 N. Euclid, Oak Park,  misses most of 2 people on the right - Jimmie (46) and Lottie Meredith (71), Ruth's brother and mother.  The others are:  (left side, going around table)  Diane Kellogg - 21 , Ken Kellogg - 26, John Kellogg - 58, Esther Wood - 79 (John's mother), Ruth Kellogg  - 51 (turned toward camera)

Thursday, Nov. 26, 1925 - Thanksgiving Day
    "Got up at 5:20.  Evangeline got here at 6:00.  We went for Mrs. Diehl shortly afterward and got at the Oak Park church at about 6:25. Out at 8:30.  
     All but I went to the Chicago this afternoon.  Papa had never seen the inside before.  Irene came out and helped me with my dress.  She had dinner with us at 5:00.  
     At 8:00 Willard rang the bell and came in.  He had come about the ticket, but asked me to go for a ride for 1/2 hour.  I did.  We had a fine ride in the country.  We sat in car in front for a long while.  Irene stayed all night."

The Kelloggs had lived in Oak Park for 16 years when the photo was taken.  Esther Wood lived in Ann Arbor where she and her husband, G.A. Wood, had operated a boarding house for male college students at the University of Michigan.  By 1957 she had retired.  Ken had married in 1956, but his wife, Beth, took the picture, so is not shown.

In Ruth's diary, she speaks of getting up early, which must have been for the Sunrise Service.  A friend, Evangeline, and Ruth picked up a neighbor, Mrs. Diehl and drove to First Baptist Church in Oak Park. Lottie may have prepared some of the dinner that morning or perhaps was reluctant to go to church be-
cause she was increasingly hard of hearing.  The "Chicago" is the Chicago Theatre downtown.

The ticket Willard mentioned was for the prom.  Ruth invited Willard, whom she seemed to have a crush on through the end of high school.  Willard and Ruth sat in the car one time too many.  In early December Ruth's parents, Lottie and Jim, both reproached Ruth for sitting in the car with him, telling her she could not do that for more than 30 minutes.  They may have been concerned about what the neighbors would think too.


   

After Lynn's Birth in 1966, Ruth's Diary Entry & Diane's Note

 The top picture shows 4-month-old Lynn Meredith Pellettiere with mom Diane in the living room of our new house in Mt. Prospect IL Sept., 1966.  The second is a smiling Lynn looking over Grandma Ruth Kellogg's shoulder.  She was born at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

May 25, 1966, Wednesday   I packed this AM after a restful nite.  Baby Lynn only awoke once at 3:45 AM and slept soundly again until eight.  Dan got home early and got me to the airport early.  There I had to wait one hour longer so long-distance phoned John.  In at O'Hare Airport at 9:30 PM. Home 10:10.  John I found reading in airport luggage return area.

I wrote the following note on the night of May 25th, using a "Mrs. Daniel A. Pellettiere Jr." note card.
"Dear Mom,
Right now you're winging your way to Chicago, ending what what seemed a very fast 10 days with us.  I'm glad that you were here to lend a hand and to give moral support in these early days with Lynn.  The night feedings were especially helpful.
        I'm sure that you will enjoy sleeping straight through and in a regular bed instead of on a 
daybed.  But you probably will miss Lynn too - at least her daytime personality.
       She had water at 8:00 PM and should waken any minute for a bottle, so I guess I should end this now.  Hope you're feeling good.     Love, Diane"