Arlene E. Robinson

Arlene Edna Arleth Robinson, she went by many names, loving wife, daughter, sister, Mom, Grandmom, Nana, Great Grandmom, Great Great Grandmom, Aunt, Matriarch, teacher, mentor, musician, kind, friend, and the list goes on. Each of these words can be applied yet she was so much more, to so many, than these simple words can express. Every day we hear more stories of how she touched the lives around her right up until the day before she passed. Making sure a new resident at Volterra wasn’t eating alone and directing the staff to “bring her over to us, our table has room” was just one story. She grew up in Pennsylvania and was an active member of her local parish along with her parents Frank and Freda and her little brother Jerry. Mom was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and always wore her Miraculous Medal. She often said that at night if she couldn’t sleep she would recite the rosary admitting that there were many times she just had to start over! She was so proud of Grandpop Arleth being a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus. She used to tell us stories of her dog “Wrinkles” and how smart he was at escaping! Music was one of her great passions and she passed the joy of music on to us. Stories of “Arlene and Her Boys”, her Country and Western Band, made hearing the music even sweeter. Her love of Country and Western music filled our home. She even cut “record” as a teen, in vinyl of course. We used to play dress up in her old performance costumes complete with fringe, made for her with love by Grandmom Arleth. Those costumes made the best Halloween costumes too! Growing up I thought everyone had a mother that sang and taught guitar in their basement. I used to love hearing her play Malagueña, watching her fingers fly over the frets. Eileen told us the story this week of the night mom was packing her bag for the hospital just before Nancyjane was born, on mom’s birthday by the way. She remembered mom repeatedly calling down to the basement, “play it again” and “one more time” to her student. I remember the day she let me play the mandolin and how nervous I was to hold a piece of our family’s history. She told me the story of the Katzenjammer Kids decal on it and how it had belonged to a great uncle. Sundays meant attending Mass St. John of the Cross where mom lead the Guitar Mass and Eileen played tambourine. In my teens, I was able to join the choir with mom and it was a joy and pleasure to sing harmony in various choirs over the next 40 years. I will always have the wonderful memories of singing harmonies with mom at the diocesan choir festivals, Midnight Mass, Easter, Schola Cantorum, and in Italy for Pope John Paul II, these were just some of the highlights. Mom taught us important things like resect, love, kindness and compassion, how to be a parent and what love was. She and dad showed us every day what it meant to be a unit. She taught us to sew our own clothes, how to bake and cook and the joys of having fresh vegetables from a garden, even though weeding wasn’t any fun. Everyone knew that it was dinner time at the Robinson’s when mom rang the bell to call us home. Ring, ring, ring, three times was our call. That bell sits on my desk at school, a reminder of a great time in my life. Each year brought a new cape sewn for us to wear for Easter Sunday Mass. The best part was going shopping with mom at Levine’s and getting to pick out the fabric for our outfits. I’m sure we must have driven her nuts. She was there for the births of our children including cutting the cords of both of Nancyjane’s boys, and loved having a baby in her arms. Scouting was a part of our lives and then our children’s and she was there for it all. If anything was needed she was there for her kids and grandkids. The love was unconditional. Mom also had a “head for numbers” and while some may not like math, it was her thing. She worked as bookkeeper for Manufacturers Hanover in Pennsylvania and then the Osceola Property Appraisers Office here in Florida. Many times, each of us dropped into the Kissimmee office with the grandchildren in tow just to say hi and she was so happy to show off her “babies”. She especially loved the family day when the kids got to measure the building! Mom loved to travel and she was up for anything from hauling the boat behind her Roadrunner to wandering all over Germany with Eileen. She was even able to meet and have her picture taken with several of the Vienna Boys Choir after their performance. If we asked her if she wanted to go she went, from road trips to see Celtic Thunder on both coasts of Florida to George Donaldson at Nolan’s Irish Pub in Cocoa. One year we took her to the Central Florida Highland Games and she only agreed to leave the evening céilidh when I said I was too cold to stay, I still think she was freezing but she didn’t want to ruin our fun. She had so much fun watching Austin dance when the bagpipes played. A visit to grandmom or the “cookie lady” meant cookies in a Ziploc bag to go. No one was allowed to leave without it! There were many years of cookie baking lessons and licking the brownie batter off of spoons for every generation. As mom grew older the cookies may have become store bought but the sentiment remained the same. Her house was a place of comfort and love. She was so happy when her “baby brother” Jerry came in December and she got to spend time with him. She always loved it when he and Aunt Karen brought the cousins to visit. Arlene was the loving wife of Kelso for 62 years and it all began at a roller skating rink! Because of a height difference mom and her friend decided to switch skating partners to be able to skate easier and the rest is history! Every time they looked at each other like it was like the first time. As I looked through the many pictures on mom’s computer, 12,322 to be exact, it was obvious how much they loved each other and I’m glad it was captured on film. They were always holding hands or his hand was on her shoulder. She leaves behind a legacy of love, honor, gentleness and kindness to her 4 children, 14 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. We will treasure the many cross stitch pieces she made for us and I’ll think of her whenever I sing. Now she can forever sing without the worrying about difficulty breathing. She can once again play guitar without the pain of arthritis, she can walk hand in hand with dad and without any pain. We now have two of the best guardian angels of all time watching over us and guiding us. I know she’s holding dad’s hand in heaven right now telling him “I told you I’d never leave you”.

Arlene E. Robinson

May 30, 1937 - January 24, 2018