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"

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.