Ruth continues to have night duty and both she and Dave are suffering effects of sleep deprivation; Dave from driving back and forth to Albany, and Ruth from work. Ruth says she’s homesick and worries about her mother.
June 16, 1935
349-A Madison Avenue
Albany, N.Y.
Sunday 9:40 p.m.
Dear Dave,
The evening work is completed at last and maybe if I can get a little sleep before morning, I can last the night out. I know my eyes never felt any heavier in my life. I am only writing this to try and keep awake until midnight at least.
Lydia probably will blame my not being able to sleep to the fact that I was down there. However, I don’t believe I could have slept if I had been in my own room. I find that on night duty there are just so many sleepless days anyway.
Talk about your dopey people, one of the doctors just came in and it took me some time to decide who she was. I knew I had seen her a lot and when it dawned on me, I decided it was Dr. Hathaway and she lectured about a half dozen times while we were in class.
Gee, maybe I didn’t hate to come in tonight. It sure is tough to come in when other people are just thinking of going out. Gee whiz, if I don’t snap out of it, I’ll be feeling so sorry for myself that I’ll be swamping the place in tears. It won’t be long now. I have stood four and a half months of it and I can stand another half month. It does seem a shame to spoil the only day you have off a week when you could get a little rest it makes you get up so early. Maybe I don’t act like it, but I appreciate the trouble you went to today so I could see Lydia. Believe me I appreciate a change from what I have all the week. If it wasn’t for Sunday, I wouldn’t know when one week ended and the next started.
Now I’ll see if I can talk about something more desirable for a change. Mr. Motta brought the spaghetti and meatballs. We are awfully sorry you can’t be with us about midnight.
Sos’s sister just came in so I’ll sign off for now.
Ruth P.
P.S. As I sat at the desk the telephone buzzed in my ear and it was Dr. Van Deusen sending a patient in. Looks like we have fun for a while at least. What did I say about my luck?
Monday 6:20 p.m.
What a sleep I had today and I sure do feel rested. I was in bed at 7:45 and I even let the alarm go off at 5:30 p.m. I don’t care if we have three deliveries tonight.
The new patient came in but the baby wasn’t born while we were on duty. I sort of hope it isn’t born until tonight but it probably will be. Miss Van Deusen was up at midnight and helped us eat our spaghetti. She stayed up and visited until 1:30.
When I came upstairs at 2:00, I was so far gone that when Sosville spoke to me it didn’t even register. I sat in a chair and must have slept about two hours. This morning we were both crabby as the deuce and it wouldn’t have taken much for either one of us to start weeping.
I feel like a different person tonight so we will probably be silly again tonight. Sos said I looked awfully bedraggled when I came in last night, but I had nothing on you. I don’t know when she got close enough to know how you looked. She also says she thinks I am good enough for you to be running around with.
It is raining tonight so therefore it would have been a swell night to turn over and go back to sleep after the alarm went off.
I bet you were sort of tired yourself last night. It is too bad you couldn’t have had a little of the work you have now last winter when things were so slack. Looks like there is no rest for the wicked or sompin’.
It is nearly time I started thinking about going to work so I’ll be signing off until a previous date. Gee, I’m getting good at chiseling. You sure pulled a fast one on me when you handed me those stamps. I was only using that for an excuse not to write. I could get up some afternoon and go and get some stamps.
Well, don’t work too hard, get lots of sleep and write often.
Ruth
P.S. Save the kitten you are taking down to Charles until next Sunday so I can see what kind of a fighter the Sprague cat is going to be.
160th Anniversary Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775)
Here, there or anywhere
Dear Ruth,
So it is raining or is it not? I just came in and I was soaked thru. Consequently I’m sitting here in my negligee or sompin writing this letter. I hope you didn’t get as wet going to work as I did coming from work, cause if you did, the babies won’t be the only ones that need a change tonight. I didn’t get off to a much better start this week than I did last. It seems to have a habit of raining on Mondays and here I thought I would get caught up enough this week to take next Sunday off and not even think of work.
I got back in Preston Hollow at 7:45. Ben and Florence were still there but I didn’t attempt to do any “collecting”. After Fran closed the station we all went up to the house and had a bite to eat and plenty of coffee. I guess everyone had three cups and of course Fran had to be top kick with four. Lydia used both percolators to make enough for us. Everyone wished you were there but probably none of us wished it any more than you yourself.
Ben as usual took the role of clown and did a very good job. He even gave us a lecture on the evils of eating cucumbers, although I doubt if any of us profited very much by it. He concluded by saying cucumbers aren’t even pickles. They’re nothing. So says he, but I still like them. I intended to go home early but time as usual got the best of me and it was twelve o’clock before I got here.
Did you have a tough night or was everything quiet on the western front, or should I say delivery table. Even if it was quiet I’ll bet you were glad when morning came. You were tired Sunday afternoon. I could see that easily enough. Maybe it would be best for me to stay away next Sunday until time to take you back. You probably wouldn’t get any more sleep but at least you could get some rest and I can’t seem to let you out of my sight long enough to even let you do that when I’m there.
I thought I was the only crazy one in this family but I’ve just discovered another. It is 8 P.M., still pouring, and LaVere just went out to go fishing. It must be great to be as full of pep as that. I’m so lazy tonight I wouldn’t even go across the road to see Max Baer fight tonight.
I tried all last evening to find out from Lydia and Fran both what it was I said when I got out of the car Sunday morning but to no avail. They both had a lot of fun kidding me about it but they wouldn’t tell what it was. Suppose you try your luck. My curiosity has the best of me.
And that’s not all, sleep is also gaining the upper hand so I’ll draw this to a close, go down and brush my teeth and then in for a nice long snooze.
Just “Me”
June 20, 1935
349-A Madison Avenue
Albany, N.Y.
Thursday 12:15 a.m.
My Dear Dave,
I bet you think I am a baby now but I feel a little better anyway. That storm has been brewing since Saturday I guess. I know I have felt awfully depressed all the week. Tonight I was sort of homesick, lonesome, tired, blue and worried about my mother. All that combined with night duty and the weather just couldn’t result in anything but tears. I was sorry that the storm had to break so anyone knew about it. Fortunately, I don’t have those spells often and when I do no one knows about it. I’m usually happy and I do like my work only I seem to have had a little too much in a heap. When this night duty is over, I am in hopes my depressed feeling will depart.
Freddy went home today and his mother left us a huge box of candy and the night “girls” aren’t doing bad. I wish we could get a few more patients like Freddy. One of our “used to be” patients left us some spaghetti today. We sure do stand in good.
We have two new patients today. One is a young guy about 21 who had his tonsils removed this afternoon. He isn’t very sick as he had them out under local. They tell me Ruth Williams went for him in a big way.
Twin brothers, Glenn and Lynn Parker
We just decorated one of my calling cards with my address and phone number and put it in a large size business envelope to send to Lynn. I’m anxious to know what kind of a response I’ll get. It might give him an inspiration.1
Sosville has dragged out the big chairs and I don’t mind telling you, they look darned awful inviting. I’m not as tired now as I was Sunday night.
I think Pete Sprague makes a very good appearance.2 After all, how could he help it, look at the background he has. I heard say that one member of the Coffin family walked at the age of nine months, and it is said the same person was so talented that at the age of eighteen months, he played very well on the linoleum.
Listen, how about going a little easy on the work. You know there is such a thing as overdoing it and there will still be work to be done after this generation is dead.
I forgot to thank you for bringing me home tonight. I should be classed as a national nuisance or something, doncha think?
Miss Van Deusen wanted to know what that car was stopped in the middle of the corner for, and I told her you said they were looking for a penny under the seat.
Thursday 7 p.m.
I got up at 6:00 p.m. I felt like sleeping longer but I decided to get up and finish this so you could get it in the morning. I wrote to my mother last night. I didn’t hear from home again today. I wish someone would write, but even if they did, I couldn’t be sure I was getting it straight.
I heard Johnny Fink from Schenectady tonight. Is he the guy you said you knew?
My throat feels like I had been swallowing nails. Gee, I hope I don’t get tonsillitis. It will be a wonder if we don’t all get some darn thing it is so cold and damp at school. We wrap ourselves in blankets and even then we shiver all the time. Miss Van Deusen says night duty runs a person down awful.
I was figuring my time tonight and I think they are giving me a day. I hope they don’t change their mind. Tonight starts my last two weeks. Friday morning I will have finished half of my night duty. I don’t think I ever watched the calendar so close in my life.
I tried to tell my mother that when she gets better, she should come down and make Lydia a visit. I can hardly feature her getting so far away from home for more than a day.
I have to sign off and go to work.
Ruth
Footnotes
- Lynn Parker (1906-1990) and Glenn Parker (1906-1995) were Ruth’s twin brothers, shown in the photo. At the time this letter was written, Lynn was married to Marion Richardson and they had a young daughter, Eunice Ann (1927-2001). Glenn was married to Dorothy Cassell (1910-2004), and they had two children, Glenn and Doris. A third child, Carol, was born to them later in 1943.
- “Pete” is most likely the kitten’s name.