May, 1989 - Oldest daughter, Lynn, graduated from Rosary College in River Forest, IL. My mother, Ruth Meredith Kellogg, came in from Clearwater Florida for the big event. (By then my father, who was 7 years older, had passed away.)
I don't recall picking Mom up at O'Hare, but I was probably the driver. "Mom stayed several days, the centerpiece of the trip being the graduation ceremony. It was our first such event, Lynn being the oldest of the 3 girls. She was graduating with a degree in Nutrition & Foods."
"At Rosary College - now called 'Dominican University' - a beautiful ceremony was held on Friday night. Carrying candles like stars in the darkness, all of the graduates would went their way though outdoor corridors on an old, ornate campus building." Lovely, but that night, May 5, it was very cold and snowed!!
"Most of the graduates didn't wear coats, not wanting to cover up their new dresses. Fortunately we viewers did bundle up as we sat huddled in chairs sat up on the lawn. I was wearing a fur coat. We all thawed out at an informal reception on campus afterward, thankfully held inside. Graduation itself was inside on the following day. It was uneventful -- and not as cold."
"The memory that's so vivid is of taking Mom to O'Hare a day or two later. The picture I have is of waiting until the very end to board. I remember how she walked down the long corridor to the plane, a small figure shrunk further by old age. She was 82. What happened on the flight I don't know -- only that she told my brother Ken, who met her at the airport, that it was awful and she would never fly again. She never did."
What do I imagine? That she was confused, much less capable than I had thought. I should have quizzed Ken about any changes in her in 1989. ...The picture, taken in 1990, shows Kate, Dan and Diane in the back row and Cindy, Daisy and Lynn in front. Daisy plopped down in front just as the picture was taken!
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