3 of Ruth's Diary Entries in October, 1965

The picture is of me, Diane, in 1964 after Dan Pellettiere and I had been married.  I was sitting on the bed in our apartment in Riverdale, which is part of NYC.  Dan worked for N.W. Ayer, a famous old advertising agency, and I worked for an insurance co. as a technical writer in the EDP department.

Ruth and John Kellogg. my parents, had sold their house in Oak Park.They were living in an apartment, so still involved with local friends, especially from their church, First Baptist.  That would all change when they
moved into the condo they had bought in Clearwater FL, but were renting to a tenant for a year.  Their house had sold faster than they had thought it would.

October 12. 1965 -  John got the CHECKER CAR today.  It looks like a station wagon!  Bulky!"  The huge Checker car (also used for taxicabs) was big enough for guests like my brother and his wife,  who had 2 little boys, plus Ruth and John.  Eventually it also served our family of 5 by 1970.

October 17, 1965  - "Diane phoned with big news (while she had Beth on the phone) that she's expecting first baby about June 1.  
   Beth was expecting luggage we gave her."  The luggage must have been Beth's birthday gift.  She was
Ken's wife at that time.   In a later diary entry I said I thought the doctor's due date was wrong - and he did change it to mid-May - a week after the baby actually arrived.

October 18, 1965 - "Dropped note of congratulations to Diane & Dan.  Went to bank for my household money.  My sewing machine returned at cost of $30.  I used it on towels - seems okay.  Phoned Kay and Roberta."   It was so typical of the times to send a note rather than picking up the phone to make a call, especially a long distance one.  I used to love to write notes and letters and enjoyed getting them from others.  At one time I kept a schedule of who I had written to, trying not to leave any one out inadvertently.  Between friends and relatiives, there were probably 30 people on it.
"Kay and Roberta" were two of Ruth's friends from church.  The Kelloggs joined First Baptist in Nov., 1941 when they moved to Oak Park.  Ruth was 35 and John 42 at that time.

Neither the diary entries nor the picture are in Pieces of a Life.

Retirement Life in Florida Not Always Serene - 1973

The picture shows Ruth Kellogg (72) and her mother, Lottie Meredith (91), in Clearwater FL in 1978.

Ruth and John had just returned from a "rugged" 6-day trip to the Yucatan in Mexico.  Ruth was usually calm, didn't seem to let much bother her, except for my father. So imagine my surprise when I read this diary...

Friday, March 1, 1973   -   "Glad to be home and not anxious to leave soon again but that will come all too soon in late May -- to Diane's.  My mother gives me a hard time - trying to make me feel guilty and pliable to her needs.  If I were a stronger personality, it might have helped but now?  Between the various family members and my own desires & pleasures there are so many conflicts.  Now Ken & Nellie and boys seem well-adjusted and not dependent on me.  But how to work out Mom's needs without conflict here is tough!"

Lottie and her son, Jimmie, had moved from Chicago to Mt. Prospect after Ruth & John moved to Florida. They were a mile from me and baby Cindy, toddler Lynn. (Kate was born in 1970.)  I kept an eye on them, taking them on errands, visiting their small apartment. I thought it odd that my parents had left Lottie & Jimmie behind, as though they were forgotten luggage. Jimmie was schizophrenic, having had his first public episode at church in high school, followed by time at Elgin (mental hospital) and treatment off and on from then on.

I knew that Lottie was demanding of my mother, but didn't realize how much Ruth wanted to escape that responsibility. She had helped guide Lottie and Jimmie since my grandfather died of heart problems in May, 1944 at 63.  In either 1969 or 1970, Lottie and Jimmie moved to Largo, Florida, a short car ride from Ruth and John's apartment.  Dan and I helped get them packed up.  

In March, 1973 Lynn was 6, Cindy 5 and Kate 2, so visiting me in 1973 would be much more physical for 66-year-old Ruth.  She had babysat with Ken's boys when they were younger, but by 1973 were 12 and 9 with Mario (Nellie's son) slightly older.  There was a lot of drama when Ken's first wife was in the picture, so Ruth was happy to see life settle down once Nellie and Ken were married in 1972.

Ruth Kellogg Tells of Daughter's Hospital Stay in N.Y.C.

Daughter Diane (me) is pictured here at 26 (1962) at a windy Chicago beach near Lake Michigan, close to her Astor Street apartment.

In 1964 Ruth and John, Diane's parents, still lived in Oak Park.  After a trip to Florida, they drove back to Illinois on Friday, Feb. 21.  On Feb. 22 Ruth wrote in her diary: "Diane phoned Ken this morning from N.Y. hospital where she's been since Thursday with kidney infection which is being treated with shots every 6 hours.  Tests are being run for cause.  Ken said she sounded chipper."

One day in mid-February, I didn't feel very good with several symptoms - such as back pain.  The only doctor we knew of was one some friends had just met at a cocktail party, so that's who I saw.  He examined me, but missed the kidney infection diagnosis, and sent me home.  In a couple of days, I was back - but this time with a high fever.  The doctor put me right into Beth Israel Hospital in lower Manhattan, where I laid around for about a week. That's where I was when I called my brother, Ken

What were we doing in New York City?  Dan Pellettiere was hired by N.W. Ayer, venerable old ad agency in Philadelphia, in Dec., 1962.  We got married in February, 1963.  At that time I had been working for Continental National Insurance Group in downtown Chicago for about 3 years, training employees in letter and report writing mostly, but also writing and editing materials and manuals.  When I left, I finished a project for them, working out of our apartment in Philly.

We expected to be there for a year, but were transferred to NYC in late April.  I was hired by another insurance company on Maiden Lane at the south end of Manhattan, this time working as a technical writer in the electronic data processing area.  The computer was the size of a room.   

"Help Me!"

One day Lottie Meredith phoned Ruth, crying hysterically, "Ruth!  Ruth!  Help me - my finger is caught in the sewing machine."
Trying to be calm, Ruth said, "What do you mean 'caught'?"
"The needle came down right into my fingernail.  It's bleeding and it hurts so much!"
"Can't you just release the needle - turn the wheel on the machine so it comes out?"
Still crying, Lottie said, "No, I can't.  I'm afraid I will just make it worse."

I was home so Mom (Ruth) and I ran to the garage, backed her Packard sedan into the alley and drove the two miles to the my grandmother's two-flat on Iowa Street in Chicago.  We had lived there until 1941 when we moved to 1210 N. Euclid in Oak Park.

Ruth was able to turn the wheel on the side of the sewing machine to pull the needle upward out of Lottie's bloody finger. Then she had me put ice in a bowl so that Lottie could put her finger in it.  This was 1949, so Grandpa Meredith (James) had passed away.  Her son, Jimmie, still lived with Lottie, though he was out when this happened.

Was this just a random accident?  Not exactly.  In the Nov. 5, 2013 post I mentioned that Lottie was very poorly coordinated because, as a lefty, her teachers tried to force her to use her right hand.  They tied her left hand behind her back.  It didn't work.  She still used her left hand to write, but was forever after awkward in doing tasks around the house or yard.  It seems barbaric, but tying up the right hand was an accepted practice in the late 1800s when she was a child.

Oddly enough, my father, John, was the first person to notice that our middle daughter, Cindy Pellettiere, was left handed.  When he and Ruth were visiting from Florida, he started to hand food or toys to little Cindy's right hand - until we realized it!  That was in 1968 when she was about a year old.

The picture is not in Pieces of a Life.  Taken in June, 1949, it shows my brother, Ken Kellogg (age 17), dressed for the Senior Prom at Oak Park High, with his mother, Ruth (age 42), and grandmother, Lottie Meredith (62).  They're in the Kellogg living room, framed against swirled plaster walls that were a pale aqua.  Past Ken you can see the arched entry to the dining room and the Danish Modern furniture, quite stylish at that time.