Last Sunday, Arline Welles, one of my longest library friends, passed away as scheduled. The sad news was announced on Facebook.
I knew Arline not long after her start to work for Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) in October 2000. As she worked at the Library Administration, I was practically adopted by her whole department. Every Tuesday at 10:00 am, we would repair to a Goodwill Donation Center and Store across the street. Our frequent place was the Collector's Corner. After nearly a decade's treasure hunting there, our living room is all but a miniature replica of the defunct Collector's Corner with porcelain cats everywhere. Since Arline's retirement in December 2010, I have simply stopped frequenting the Goodwill. It is just not the same again without her company and advice.
Arline was one the most energetic people I have known. We had parties in her place in Swanton, Davenport. I was in awe of her unique trailer, and natural gardens around. After the retirement, she left Santa Cruz and purchased a house in Stockton. As her daughter relocated from Livermore to Florida, Arline sold her house and followed the daughter, and rebuilt a gorgeous home and garden in Port Charlotte. A few years later, she returned to California, apparently devasting hurricanes natural and political did not agree with Arline. She restarted her third retirement home in Ukiah until Pacific Meadows beckoned in 2022. The 200-unit affordable senior apartment complex is one of Clint Eastwood's local land preservation and community development efforts. Several of us visited her in March 2024, and August this year.
Arline was also one of the most creative and single-minded friends I have had. She could always cultivate a beautiful garden out of a piece of wasteland, whether it was in the wild Swanton, or bulletin-ridden Stockton, or disaster-prone Florida. Arline tried knitting with me, but soon changed her creative outlet to glass jeweler making. She bought a kiln and created numerous glass earrings, bracelets, necklaces and other products. She would haul her goods to different fairs and festivals around the State of California.
Arline was definitely a free spirit, living on her own terms, not succumbed to political pressure or medical threats. She retired, moved in and out of Santa Cruz when feeling ready. The only compromise she ever made was when she wanted to change her full-time employment to a part-time one, in order to save gas and concentrate on her artwork at home. Our mutual friend Heidi and I intervened, with the final intervention from Assistant Director Susan Elgin. Susan made Arline's new schedule an everyday affair, coming to office four hours a day, five days a week.
Goodnight, Arline! Have a freer time in Heaven.
