Saturday, July 2, 2016

Ruth's Life Changes Again in Florida, 1983 Diary

The Pellettieres seen in 1981 in the family room in front of the fireplace in Palatine.  In 1981 Cindy was 14, Diane and Dan 45, Lynn 15 and Kate 11.

I've just gone through many of Ruth's diaries in her late 60s/70s and found that as her life in Clearwater became secure, there were few mentions of the family back in Illinois.  I think she was still sending a gift and card for birthdays, but there is no mention of that either or of the birthday itself.

However, to be fair to Ruth, she had had some major developments in her 70s.  She was very slowly moving into dementia, though the early signs of it were easy to mistake for just aging.  Her brother Jimmie, a schizophrenic, was placed in a mental hospital far from Clearwater after having a breakdown.  He had been living in a small house in nearby Largo with his mother, Lottie Meredith.  Lottie was 96 when the following diary entry was written and was living in a nursing home close to Ruth and John.  It happens that July 13 was granddaughter Cindy's 16th birthday.

Wednesday, July 13, 1983 -  "I spent 2 1/2 hours with Mom.  Pushed her down halls and into Rec. Room briefly.  Watched her eat sparingly of her lunch, which has at least 5 items plus coffee.  I got back here by 3:45 & J. took off in car."  It sure gets a work-out between us."

Thursday, July 14, 1983 -  "Had my hair done - first since Perm last week.  Looks good - Mary is perfect after all these years doing it for me.  I give her a good tip too.  I no sooner got home than J. took off with car on errands.  In afternoon he walked  to and from town for exercise!"

The Kelloggs each had a car from 1942 to around 1980 when John decided they should sell one of the cars.  John was a month from his 84th birthday when he walked to town.  I recall his walking to the library from the Horizon House on the causeway all the way into Clearwater, both for exercise and because he loved to read.  John was not easy to get along with and very strong in his opinions!

No comments:

Post a Comment