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Show 77 was in my power. Milford was very kind and that was a joy supreme. Oh, could I ever have his approbation, his smile and his love, what a happy, what a blessed woman I would be.11 "Milford was very kind and that was a joy supreme." Perhaps in that statement Ellis revealed more of her husband than she intended. This raises the question, Was Milford abnormally slow to praise or express appreciation? It recalls an earlier, quickly regretted remark of Ellis to her husband that life need not be so difficult if by a simple word or look he could make her burdens lighter. Ellis marks her 27th birthday with the observation that Bard and Richie, aged six and four years, gave her their picture and that, just days into the year when she will become twenty eight, "life's sands" will soon be run. Past, present, and possible future physical ailments no doubt paraded before her and presented an aspect of fear which she felt she must overcome for the sake of her husband and children. The frail young woman then had no way of knowing that in spite of a delicate constitution she would live to be ninety-two. It is highly possible that as she approached the age her mother was when she passed away, Ellis felt her own chances of survival beyond thirty years were marginal. On February 8th, she begins her journal entry with, "Have been attending my children, down sick with the measles, myself in very poor health. The morning finds me hopeful-evening discouraged and despondent." On the very next day, Ellis delivers a thunderbolt: February 9th Felt much better, both in health and spirits-assisted Maggie in making a wedding cake for Milford. In the |
