I am excited about this month’s post. I had the wonderful opportunity to learn the story of a dear friend, Arlene Winslow. We met many years ago when she opened her home to a bunch of writers to gather, exchange ideas, and encourage one another.
Silver Star Artist
At that time, Arlene was writing her memoirs based on letters sent back and forth between her and family members while living in Quito, Ecuador. We became close and remained good friends even after I moved across the country to be near grandchildren.
As I became acquainted with Arlene’s stories about her time living in Puerto Rico and Ecuador, along with her incredible artistic talents, I realized that her story needed to be shared. Sit back, relax, and meet my good friend and ‘Silver Star’, Arlene Winslow.
Puerto Rico
The December post is typically related to Christmas. Since Arlene and her family spent time living among different cultures, I was curious to learn more about how Christmas was celebrated in places outside the US.
Arlene and Don met at church in the early 1960s. He already had a degree in Civil Engineering with a specialty in roads from UC Berkeley. In 1965, his company sent him to Puerto Rico for five years.
Puerto Rico Christmas celebrations
Arlene’s family quickly discovered that the holiday season in Puerto Rico begins in early December and continues until after January 6th, with a variety of feasts, celebrations, and holidays. One tradition includes singing, all the time, no matter where you are. They were having some repairs done on their home during the season, and the workmen sang almost continually while they worked.
Santa Claus wasn’t a big feature at that time. Puerto Ricans did, however, make a big deal of the ‘Three Kings Day’ or Dia de los Reyes on Jan. 6. The children would put out buckets of grass and water for the camels on Jan 5 in hopes of receiving three gifts. Arlene and Don double-dipped by observing Christmas on Dec. 25 and Jan 6. There were so many celebrations during the Christmas season, they were almost tired of all the festivities by the time the merriment was over.
Quito, Ecuador
After Puerto Rico, they spent some time stateside and were eventually sent to Quito, Ecuador, in 1977.
In Quito, they encountered both cultural and language challenges. It took about six months to get acclimated. Eventually, they grew to love the area. Their family became fluent in Spanish. One thing that Arlene picked up on right away was that mañana doesn’t mean tomorrow; it means not today.
Ecuador Christmas celebrations
The family arrived in Ecuador just before Christmas. They had no tree, or way to get one. Their oldest daughter, Donna, cut a Christmas tree out of a cardboard shipping box and decorated it. After that, they had trees. Christmas was more of a religious holiday, with no real emphasis on Santa Claus; however, they decided to celebrate the more American traditions with their family.
There were no turkeys to cook for their celebrations. One year, their family was invited to someone’s home for an American Thanksgiving. Their hosts said they were serving turkey, but it was soaked in gravy and really tough.
Church and schools in Ecuador
They found a church and a lovely Bible Study group. The kids were in a fantastic college-prep school that was built for families of those working for the U.S. government, as well as missionaries’ children and those who worked for private businesses. Quito, Ecuador, was a hub for missions that supported hospitals, pilots, radio broadcasters and technicians. The school also had students whose missionary parents lived and worked in the jungles and highlands of Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.
Shopping and cooking in Ecuador
Shopping had its challenges. Shopping required them to go to a bakery, a meat market, and an open-air marketplace for vegetables. Bottles had to be returned. Sometimes the bottles were not what was expected – one time she bought blueberry syrup, and it came in a wine bottle. One of the neighbor children saw that and said, “Mama, the Señora bought vino!”
Cooking was also challenging. Arlene used a pressure cooker due to the altitude in Quito, at over 9,000 ft.
Arlene attributed their family’s ability to adjust to all the differences and changes in their world to having Jesus in their lives.
A Budding Artist
Arlene always enjoyed coloring as a child, even to the point of choosing coloring over playing outside. She didn’t discover her love for art until she started attending support group sessions as an adult, where the first 20 minutes were devoted to drawing and coloring as Art Therapy.
Attacked and Traumatized
Art Therapy helped her recover emotionally from a traumatic event that took place in her life. While she was at a retreat, she met a woman who lived a two-hour drive from her. They met about once a month for dinner halfway between each other’s homes.
One evening, her friend got sick after dinner and Arlene offered to drive her home. But she kept getting sicker. When she started to pass out, Arlene pulled into the parking lot of a store. When they got out of the car, three men attacked them, beat them up, and robbed Arlene of her large gray purse, which contained only $2 and some coins!
Arlene fell to the pavement as one of the men grabbed for the purse, breaking her right knee in three places. Another one hit her on the hip with a tire iron. It took several stitches to close a wound over her eye.
She prayed. Words came from deep inside of her, “Don’t touch me again. In Jesus’ name, don’t hit me again!” They grabbed her purse and ran off to an old convertible. Don was also praying for her as she was late returning home.
Victimized from trauma
Arlene couldn’t forget the face of the man who assaulted her – it was burned into her mind – she looked for him everywhere. It took six months to heal physically from the assault, but the emotional trauma lingered. The suffering made her a victim – she wouldn’t go out after dark and kept to herself, carrying only the smallest wallet. One day, Arlene realized something had to change, so she joined a support group. One of the things they taught her was to draw the ugly memories. Through this ordeal, she developed a love for drawing. Healing came over time.
Art Therapy Journals
Initially, Arlene only painted pictures, but while attending art classes, she discovered there were other ways to create art. One art instructor taught mixed-media by taking pictures and cutting them up to create mixed-media journals. That resonated with Arlene. She took the trauma she had experienced and channeled that into creating journals as therapy.
Healing Ministries
Over time, this became a ministry. Art Journaling was very healing for her. Arlene has learned to create cards from her paintings by scanning her artwork and turning them into mixed-media creations. Now, by teaching Art Journaling, she helps others find healing through art making. One of her ministries includes sending cards about once a month to inmates in various prisons throughout the United States, which she calls her “Prison Circle.”
Still an Active Artist
Arlene has also painted several single-subject paintings, even finishing an oil painting that her husband Don began to paint of their backyard landscape. He took up painting after retirement but was unable to finish before he passed away. (The photo at the top of this post is of Arlene standing next to Don’s painting that she finished).
Arlene continues to paint and art journal. She is a member of the Red Bluff Art Association and participates in activities of the Tehama County Art Council.
A Bible verse became very meaningful to Arlene during her journey of healing through art ~“They intended it for evil, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20, personalized)
Has your world been touched by dementia?
My book, “Finishing Well: Finding the Joy in Dementia“, is a collection of stories and tips about doing life with my Mama. May it encourage and inspire you to find joy on your own, unique journey.