Upon
meeting Ruth Daleth, my first impression was of an attractive, no-nonsense woman
of a certain age. She took charge and focused on the health insurance problems
that I'd brought to Congressman Gary Condit's office. Her direct approach left
no room for ambiguities about her ability or desire to help and I could tell she
felt any day was a fine day to go to battle for a senior constituent.
You'd
never guess that Daleth—a 68-year-old powerhouse—is a recovering alcoholic,
had never worked outside the home during her 31 years in an abusive marriage,
or that her confidence was once so low that, as she said in her scratchy tobacco
voice, "If I hadn't joined Alcoholic's Anonymous and gotten this job, I'd be dead
today. Knowing that my work here makes a difference in people's lives is part
of what gets me up in the morning and makes each day a gift." When I asked for
an interview, Daleth reluctantly agreed "because maybe my story can encourage
someone else to get help and let them know that it's never too late."
Daleth
loves to talk about how she helps older adults. She tells a story about an 85-year-old
woman whose Social Security checks were reduced $500 a month for no apparent reason.
In addition, her regular monthly check hadn't been deposited—again for no
reason—and the woman rang up $608 worth of bank charges before she discovered
the discrepancy. Out of desperation, the elderly woman went to Congressman Condit's
office. Daleth immediately picked up the phone and spoke with her contact at Social
Security. An emergency check was issued and Ruth helped the woman balance her
checkbook, negotiating with the bank to have the overdraft charges dropped. On
the woman's behalf, Daleth wrote a letter to creditors explaining the situation
and asked them to wave their $25 fees.
Daleth,
with full support and encouragement from Congressman Condit, represents old-fashioned
public service in the finest sense of those words, a service underperformed today.
Daleth was also quick to point
out that everyone should attempt to resolve their problems first before visiting
a Congressman's office for help. That should be a last resort.
Ruth
Daleth's mother was also an alcoholic. "She divorced my father when I was six
months old. I spent my first 21 years with my mother and grandfather in Carnegie,
Pennsylvania—a steel mill town. My mother was a bar waitress, working Friday,
Saturday and Sunday nights. She'd bring me to work with her when I was six. Carnegie
had three movie theaters. I'd see one double feature, and go on to the next double
feature. Then I'd walk back to the bar. I'd fall asleep in a booth until my mother
got off at 2 am. I never watch movies now."
She
met her ex-husband, Jack Daleth, at 14 and they married when she was 21. He joined
the military and went to Korea while Ruth went to California to live with his
parents until he returned. She said, "He, too, is an alcoholic and his drinking
worsened as time passed. It didn't help when his brother bought a bar and Jack
became his partner. Jack and I were always fighting. I blamed Jack for years when
our first child was stillborn."
"In
1963 we put our daughter, Nancy, his golf clubs and all our possessions in a little
red Corvair and moved permanently to California." The Daleths landed in Salinas
and lived there for about seven years. Jim secured a job with a large retail chain
and was promoted regularly while Ruth stayed at home raising the children. Although
Jim brought home a paycheck, he stayed away as much as possible, leaving Ruth
to take care of his mother who suffered from Alzheimer's.
The
whole family suffered as the elder Mrs. Daleth became increasingly belligerent
and less responsible due to the disease. When Jim was promoted to manager of a
Modesto store, Ruth stayed in Salinas for several months to finish remodeling
the house so it could be sold. "He was living in an apartment in Modesto and I
kinda knew at the time that something was going on with somebody at work." It
wasn't the first time, but Ruth knew the other relationships hadn't lasted.
