Initiatives of Change - Ruth Kennedy

I walk down the long, clean but spare hallway of Bennett House. Each 30 feet I pass another closed door.
I am looking for number 327, the home of my 93 year old friend Ruth Kennedy who spent her life dedicated to making it a better world, traveling across Europe, Asia, America many times, now she lives in a small apartment, only able to get out when a helper or a friend comes by. But do not feel sorry for her.
Ruth grew up in the wealthy home of her adopted parents in Minneapolis. When she graduated from high school, she was sent off to attend finishing school in Rome next to the exclusive Hotel Hassler on the Spanish Steps.
Returning to the states she started looking for something that would give direction and meaning to her life. She found it in Moral-Rearmament. After a while she met and married her English actor husband Tom Kennedy and together they traveled and worked to promote peace and goodwill among nations and people. Often they were put on plays for great crowds and famous dignitaries. They never received a salary; they lived from day to day on what people felt inspired to give them. It was a spiritually and intellectually rich life, working to make it a better world, but there was never money for a savings account or a place to call their own.
After Ruth’s husband died in 1976 she was invited to live with a friend in San Raphael, California. The two women made an inviting and welcoming home for their many new and old friends. It was a place where people came for a lovely cup of tea, for support, and for inspiration. It all was centered on seeking God’s plan for the individual and the world.
After 10 years Ruth’s friend died and Ruth needed a new place to live. She found it at Bennet House a place build by the county for people who for various reasons are without the means to pay the Bay Area’s exorbitant rents.
I ring her doorbell. And there is Ruth at the door, now a diminutive little woman with blue eyes, untamed grey hair and blue eyes that radiate life and laughter. The door opens into a small sunlit room, attractively decorated with pink and light blues on furniture from all sorts of attics and second hand stores.
You might think that at 93 living on SSI in a one bedroom apartment, Ruth’s world has shrunk just like she has, but not at all.
Ruth immediately offers me tea out of a fine bone china cup and when asked starts talking about her most recent life.
“You know staying close to one another is so important,” she says.” I have become a member of a community here and I try to make that possible for others as well. I have chosen to put my energy into promoting friendships and connections between the people living here. In this house we have such a varied group of people, young and old from all kinds of backgrounds. Some have come to terms with life some have not, and some are very strident about the way life turned out for them. We have quite a few young disabled people here and for them life can be particularly dispiriting.”
The first thing Ruth did after moving into Bennet was initiate a Wednesday afternoon tea in the Bennet House lounge, to which everyone was invited. It started small with six, but now regularly 25 people show up to enjoy each other’s company and share their life experiences and make new friends.
“There have been people here,” Ruth continues, “Who have been found dead after several days because nobody knew them. When several committed suicide, I felt guided to go to the grief session and I especially noticed 4 young people who felt I should keep in touch by notes and visits. It has been a joy and a satisfaction. As to caring for one another, God is a wonderful suggester.”

You quickly notice that Ruth never takes credit for what she initiates, always gives the credit to God’s inspiration.

One inspiration was to start a quarterly bulletin to bring the tenants together. Ruth herself is a very literary lady who writes well and has been known to give lectures on the poetry of Robert Frost as well as write her own poetry. For the Bulletin she teamed up with a chap from the Caribbean who claimed to be a computer expert; he omitted the detail that he was dyslexic. However, the Bennett Bark was a success, so successful that after a couple of years the management took it over.

Soon Ruth was asked to be the President of the Tenant Association, not because of veneration for her advanced age, but because of her young, big heart. At the beginning Ruth claims that she was a little nervous about Robert' Rules of Order for meetings but she learned. She immediately began to unlock a treasure chest of stories about the fascinating lives of everyone’s neighbors. Before each meeting she would interview one of the tenants and write up his story. After having read it aloud at the tenant get-together, she would have everyone guess who the mystery person was. People were so surprised to discover what interesting neighbors they had. Such as an old lady who had survived the holocaust and a Russian who had spent years in the Gulag, not only were the listeners surprised, but it often amazed the person who was being featured that his life had such significance.
Ruth continues: “I often feel vulnerable to sudden changes and losses, but feeling vulnerable brings Jesus to my side. I am learning to put no limit to God’s vision for me,” She might have added “ or to put any age limit on myself.”
Ruth giggles, as she does all the time in that joyful way of hers and says: “What fun it is to seek each day the window of joy that God has arranged for all of us.” She adds with the wisdom accumulated over 93 years: “I believe we go through many phases in our life, but the most significant is the present moment. It is the only moment in which we can alter things and make life different. If we do not respond, part of God’s will for his creation is missing.”

I leave thinking. Ruth is forever young, because she constantly has her whole being tuned into what she can do for others.
As I walk down the hallway among the healthy plants that Ruth has placed there, I have to restrain myself from going up to an elderly man, getting a key out to open his door, and proudly proclaiming,” Hey, I am Ruth’s friend.”

By Aase Schoen