Ruth Becomes a Senior Citizen!

Ruth Kellogg. my mother, is pictured with John, my father in Clearwater FL. Standing next to them are Dan, Lynn, Cindy and Kate.  This was taken at Easter 1977, so the girls were 10, 9 and 6.

Monday, July 5, 1971 - "Today I am a Senior Citizen - 65 years old!  I have gained a little in the 3 1/2 weeks since returning here - and have to watch that after getting into smaller clothes, etc.

We played doubles again from 8:30 to 10:00.  Then went directly from Ken's shop to mark off with chalk where boxes and rubber are to go when they arrive soon.

Very hot in sun but good breeze helps.  We took  a few hours - from 2 to 4 to visit Ethel & Ernest Betts.  She is doing quite well with her walker but will be using it the rest of the summer."

This diary held surprises for me.  I thought that Ken and Beth had divorced before he and the boys moved to Florida, but they must have broken up later.  She was "very nervous" about the move to Chicago, according to Ruth.

Also, Ruth was very focused on her weight.  She had been in the 130 - 140 range earlier/  On Jan. 1, 1971 she was 128 1/2, dropped to 112 on June 10, popped up a bit to 113 1/2 by July 5.  She doesn't say just how she was losing weight, whether using some weight loss product or just by eating a healthier diet.

The Betts were unknown to me.  They may have been friends through their building,  Horizon House, or through church.  Ruth and John knew a lot of couples. Visits with friends, bridge games, tennis were the fabric of their lives as retirees.  Ruth also spent a lot of her time sewing, knitting and helping her mother, Lottie Meredith, and brother Jimmie near Clearwater.  They had lived in Mt. Prospect for a few years after Ruth and John left the Chicago area.  I was their driver/helper then, but also had 3 little girls and a house to take care of.

"Ken's shop" was the new Florida location of the bandage business John had started in the late 1930s.
Ken took over when John, his father, retired.   He bought a house and a "shop" for making the bandage.  Their home in Des Plaines IL was sold that summer.  Ruth mentioned that I seemed depressed in a letter because I was the only one left in Illinois from the Kellogg family.