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| Baby Kelly |
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| Kelly--USF Alumni |
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| Kelly--Ready to go to the Laundromat |
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| Bath time for Kelly with Grandma GeeGee |
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| In the kitchen, back porch in background |
David and I began our family on February 19, 1965 with the birth of our daughter Kelly. She possessed both beauty and a perfect disposition.
Kelly arrived at the beginning of my final semester of Nursing School at the University of San Francisco. Kelly accompanied me to several nursing classes and instantly became the class princess. She was a perfect student, never crying in class. She also held the title of first baby born to a member of the class of 1965.
Most days she stayed home with Great Grandma GeeGee; but if Grandma was busy when I had classes at St. Mary’s Hall, Kelly was welcomed at school. If a test was about to begin, the housemother gladly took Kelly and toured the building showing her off to the nuns and other students who resided at St. Mary’s Hall. Most of our classes were held on the USF campus up the hill, but some of our nursing class lectures were held at the hall. When I graduated in June, Kelly was made an honorary graduate.
David worked full-time at Southern Pacific Company in the Law Department in San Francisco, and attended classes at USF in the evening to complete his undergraduate degree.
With our new family addition we decided it was time to leave apartment living and buy a house. Luckily, we found the perfect little home just two blocks west of USF for only $25,000 dollars. I hadn’t gotten a job yet, but in those days a wife’s income was not even considered when making a home purchase. We each sold some stock that we owned for a down payment, took out a second loan from the seller and, with David’s salary, we qualified for a mortgage.
After we moved to the new house in summer 1965, I began looking for a job. It was easy in those days for nurses to find work, just as it is today. I wanted to work nights so that we wouldn’t have to hire a baby sitter. With my first interview, I was hired at French Hospital, just a few blocks from home, to work part-time, 11 pm to 7:30 am, in the Pediatrics Department. On my first night I was sent to a Medical Surgical floor in the hospital, and I continued to float about the hospital for the next three months before making it to Pediatrics. But I was happy enough to have my own pediatrics department at home with baby Kelly.
Kelly, being a perfect baby, slept twelve hours at night and took three two-hour naps during the day. I would give Kelly her baby cereal and breast-feed her between 9 and 10 pm; then she would sleep until 10 am the next morning. I would hop on the bus when I got off work at 7:30 am and arrive home to kiss David good-bye on his way to work. I then slept for two hours before Kelly woke up. At 10 am Kelly would have breakfast and her bath, and we had time to play before our next nap. When we finished our second nap, we would go for a walk and spend time in the backyard soaking up sunshine. The pediatrician said it was very important that Kelly get lots of fresh air and sunshine; fortunately, she loved going out. We had a grocery store and laundromat a block from the house; Kelly and I would venture down the street to interact with our neighbors, do the laundry and get groceries.
Because I worked most every weekend, David took over Daddy duties at home. On weekend mornings I could settle right into my comfy warm bed for a straight eight hours. David would bring Kelly in when she woke from her naps to breast feed right in bed. After eating, Kelly would go out with David for her sunshine and fresh air. She could also watch Daddy from her infant seat while he performed some household duties.
Even with a new baby, new house, and new jobs, our lives ran smoothly. Momma and Daddy shared equally in raising and bonding with Kelly. What a great life!
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