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Show 235 There are some puzzling aspects to this letter. Ellis at 65 (today's retirement age) is having difficulty drumming up business. She has a room in mind where she can be comfortable for a few weeks while she gives her classes, but there is one "adored doctor here," and for that reason she can't expect much practice. Indeed, there has been difficulty in even generating sufficient interest for a class. She is thinking of visiting every home to get the wives and daughters out, justifying the effort with the notion that sometimes we can't just sit and wait for things to happen. Part of the puzzle is that the town sounds too small and provincial for Salt Lake City in 1912-yet the Salt Lake Second Avenue address is written at the top of the letter. There will soon be letters emanating from a small town nearby, however. Another point of confusion is the character of the counsel given to this 35-year-old daughter-long, detailed admonitions to be faithful in her gospel performances and help build "this glorious cause of righteousness." Such counsel would perhaps be more appropriately given to a young adult than to a mature woman such as Olea. Yet Ellis continues this kind of mothering, and it even becomes more pronounced later in her life. It would almost seem that, during her years of study in Philadelphia, she set a pattern for written, detailed counsel in every aspect of living for her small children, a pattern she continues later whenever she is absent from them during their growth and development, and which, for reasons known only to herself, she follows throughout her life. |
