Now on to my sister Arlene. Third in line and full of piss and vinegar as grandma Belle used to say. (Arlene wasn't her favorite either. Before my time Arlene had polio as did Marian and Kathryn. Dad said Arlene had the worst case, the doctors told mom and dad she would never walk again but dad was promised in his patriarcle blessing that he had been blessed with the power to heal, however, dad told me he had missionaries give her a blessing, I am unsure if he accompanied them or not, he told me he had them bless her which could mean they offered the actual blessing and he assisted, but I am not sure. I do remember dad saying back then thy put the patients in an iron lung, a machine which I later saw in a movie at school, Pennies from Heaven with Danny Kaye, you can see it on Netflix, Chelsea and I did. I remember them saying it was very sad to see patients in the machine, they were in a big room lined up in these machines. It was a crippling disease that affected many children and adults however Arlene did recover as you well know but it did affect her agility.
Arlene told me when she was little she wanted to be a boy and Roy wanted to be a girl, so mom told them if they wished hard enough it might come true, so they held hand her saying I wish I was a boy.while Roy chanted I wish I was a girl. We all know that didn't work and thank goodness. In todays world they would have insisted they have a sex change.
Another thing Arlene herself relaid to me was she once put a mouse in the cloth hamper to scare mom, it worked and as with all naughty incidents by her children, mom lined them all up and if the guilty party didn't confess they all received a spanking at which time Arlene would put a book in her pants. These are tales before my time that Arlene retold many times pretty pleased with herself for her mischievous ways.
My earliest rememberences is when she was in high school, she worked at a hamburger place on 7200 S I think it was considered West Jordan, on Saturday when she was working we would get hamburgers and fries, the hamburgers were huge 6 or 7 inches around. Fun, fun big ice cream cones too and wonderful shakes.
Arlene went to Bingham instead of Jordan High. Bingham was clear up in Copperton so she moved in with grandpa Pearson,. I remember one night dad leaving to take Arlene to the hospital they said it was appendicitis but turned out to be a tubal pregnancy, Shen lost an ovary and after that dad relinquished and allowed her to marry at 17.
On weekends Ellen and I would to go to Marian and Arlene's to babysit or just help out with the kids. Both sisters had second babies very close together, I always went to Arlene's, Ellen always seemed to go to Marian's. We moved to California when I was 15, that summer Ellen and I rode the bus to Utah, Ellen to stay with Marian, me with Arlene. Arlene bought me new school clothes for helping her and babysitting. She worked at Sears and I think her marriage was starting to crumble, Carl worked for Western Airlines and stepped out on her. She really did try to make it work. Marian had her fourth little Jenny, by then if I'm not mistaken and Ellen tended and worked for her. It was a fun summer.
Arlene has always been a fighter, not in a negative way but a just way, always protecting those she loves. She married three times, actually four, she married her last husband twice. She is a true Pearson, strong willed and determined. She does love her good deals found at garage sales and second hand stores. If you ever need anything she will find it for you in her many travels. I should mention she has remained friends with her ex husbands, maybe Carl the least but he allowed her second husband to adopt Steve, Mary and Wade so I don't think he wanted to be part of their lives. Mary stayed in touch with her grandparents Zabriskie and was there for them until their passing.
Arlene has always been a fighter, not in a negative way but a just way, always protecting those she loves. She married three times, actually four, she married her last husband twice. She is a true Pearson, strong willed and determined. She does love her good deals found at garage sales and second hand stores. If you ever need anything she will find it for you in her many travels. I should mention she has remained friends with her ex husbands, maybe Carl the least but he allowed her second husband to adopt Steve, Mary and Wade so I don't think he wanted to be part of their lives. Mary stayed in touch with her grandparents Zabriskie and was there for them until their passing.
Arlene loves Angels both figurines and Heavenly beings. She believes strongly in naturopathic remedies, has many, and makes them available to all.
I have my dear sister Arlene to thank for my youngest two sons. She made that miracle happen, so I will always believe she is guided by Angels. LaMont and I knew the minute we laid eyes on Shawn we were his parents. For some reason I could not have children after Michele but the Lord knew our family was not complete. Through Arlene we were led to Shawn and Jonny, the minute I held Jonny I knew our family was complete.
Arlene has lots of friends who see the spirits around us. They have told her things that are true so she has had very positive experiences. She is passionate about alternative medications. She has a natural cure for whatever ailments you might have and I have to agree they work. Arlene is a caregiver taking care of anyone needing assistance. She is a true friend. She loves taking care of anyone in need. She has come to my house on many occasions to clean, not my
Arlene was my first experience in seeing what they call nesting in a mother. I was what 9 or 10 when she got married. I remember going to her apartment and it was a mess and she didn't cook, then she had her baby Steve and oh my gosh, you could eat off the floor, she cooked everything and never stopped. I stayed at her house a lot and tended when she and Carl would go out. When we moved to California, Ellen and I rode the bus to SLC, Ellen stayed at Marians, I stayed at Arlene's. I am getting ahead of myself, before that when I was younger, I always chose to go to Arlene's and tend because it was more exciting, she had fun friends and they laughed, played games and I loved to watch. Carl worked nights or swing shifts and he was never as outgoing as Arlene, so she did things with her friends for a long time after she was married. I always thought Arlene was the most beautiful of all of us. Sorry sisters, I did. She was always very stylish and kept up to date on hair dos and wardrobe But then during high school I only saw her if she stopped by with friends or if she was working because as I mentioned she lived with grandpa Pearson and went to Bingham high school and that was clear up in Copperton. I was still young when Marian, Roy and Arlene had some of their children. I was never popular in school or had many friends so I looked forward to weekends because one of them always needed a baby sitter. Arlene gives 100 percent to what she is currently envolved in. That meant being a mother talking care of her children, canning, cooking and cleaning, her house was always spotless.
Arlene’s children were a handful as they got older it required my full attention. Carl worked for Western Airlines at night but on his days off he was never any help with the children. His parents loved the children but Carl almost seemed indifferent to me. Arlene being social it seemed it began to wear on her. She got a job at Sears in Salt Lake. She could sell and did very well. She began to save money she told me she was not going to divorce until she knew she would be okay. She intended to never be dependent on a man ever again. She wasn’t.
She met a man Larry Jensen he had never been married before and had no children. Carl had no problem letting him adopt his 3 children. So they became Jensen’s they bought a home in I think it was Sandy at the time. She kept working and Vickie was her best. Babysitter after a time Arlene introduced her to Dan and they married at a very young age. I’m not sure how many years she stayed married to Larry but she divorced Larry and moved in with Lane Phelps in West Jordan.
He had horses and dogs and his home had some property. He was a strict disciplinarian and her children weren’t always happy about that. Keith the baby of the family lived with them for a time since mom and Reg were gone a lot. One day at mom’s we were talking and she said if she got pregnant again she would have an abortion. I was shocked I was married by then and had 3 children of my own. But when it happened she gladly welcomed Joy into her life. She was a fabulous mother to her young children.
By then she was working in appliances at Sears and making really good money. She met Ron Carlson and in my book they had kind of a love hate relationship. Together they had it all she was the wealthiest family member. She helped mom a lot after Reg died. They both got fired from Sears and they spent many years fighting Sears for what she felt was wrongful termination. I’m pretty sure the only one to gain from it all was the attorneys. That did not stop Arlene she went on to selling furniture and appliances at a couple of different big box stores. She and Ron move to Arizona and I’m pretty sure I got out of order. They went to Arizona first we had a super fun sister’s trip there. Then they came to South Jordan, then St George. We had sister’s trips in St George and another time took a trip from HELL in her motor home to Anaise’s wedding.
Ron and Arlene started a mortgage company in St George and we’re doing very well. Her home was beautiful it was in Bloomington. We sisters had some fun times in St George. Life seemed good for Arlene but then the trouble began. I have no idea what started it this time but it led to divorce. It was bitter and again the only people that made it out were attorneys. They broke each other just like that she went from the richest to the poorest in the family.
She moved in with Wade, her son, he had custody of his 4 children from another bitter divorce. His wife left her family for another man and became a drug addict, she is now clean and living a productive life. She was with Wade for several years and Ron came around off and on. She and Ron got sorta back together, Wade went to California and Arlene joined Ron in Arizona where I happened to be living and Anna lived. Anna and Arlene became neighbors. Arlene still loves to cook and take care of people. At this time she is the oldest surviving sibling. Marian, Roy, Anna, and Kathryn are gone and I miss them every day. Thats it, I didn’t realize I had 2 starts on Arlene so I combined them. They might seem a little out of order but my brain is always out of order.
Out of order or not, I love reading your stories, Carma! They are such a blessing and such a joy!
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