Posted by Debra Hogan on October 10, 2000 at 11:20:22:
I am a forty eight year old woman who has known Ruth Ellis all of my life.She was present at thanksgiving and christmas for as long as I can remember.She was family.
I knew Ms.Ellis as my mothers friend for most of my life so my intrest in her did not develope until I was an adult woman with my own history.
I stopped by Ms.Ellis' apt on elizabeth on my lunch break and she very casually mentioned to me that she was a lesbian which I thought was very exotic for this little old lady who is now a colorful little old lady!
To my knowledge my mother has known Ms.Ellis longer than anyone else in her life.They were fast friends at a time when my mother(who was is young enough to be her daughter)was raising 6 kids and a husband.Ms Ellis allowed my mother to do things at that time that she would not otherwise have been able to do.Little trips and exposure to finer things than what was available to us on the north end of detroit where we all lived at the time.
Typical of her generous spirit Ms Ellis gave my father his first car back in the late fifties.She thought we needed it more than she did because there were more of us.My father never forgot that gift,but he also never got around to telling her how much it meant to him.I hope she Knew by the fact that he would always be the one to pick her up for those many family meals she attended.Still,I thought as the years passed that it was important to me to tell Ms.Ellis how much it meant to me that she gave me my very first job working in her printing office.I stapled and rubberbanded raffle tickets for her.
A few weeks before her last birthday I took my young daughters to see ms.Ellis at her apt. She was her usual funny self and as usual loved being hugged.
Ms. Ellis always told me that the worst part of growing old was that she was not hugged enough.
Ms.Ellis told me on that visit that she would not have another birthday after this one. She told me that she was tired and did not like being unable to care for herself so this would be her last.It was as though she had made a decision and that was the way it was going to be.And she was right.
She was a part of my life for all of my life.I will always remember her in her little shop on the corner of Oakland Ave. standing over her printing press with that big apron on.She had a big weeping willow tree in her back yard and it is still there.Thats how I will always remember her.