Every day starts a new story, and every story has a mixture of bitter and sweet. On the bitter side there’s Delphi’s abandonment of my fellow salaried employees and the politicians who are spending like fools while so many struggle from penny to penny. Still there is much for which to be thankful.
Prominent in my thoughts at this writing are my wife’s parents, John and Arlene Prieshoff.
John was a towering man in both character and stature. He had a beautiful voice and smile that would make a toothpaste model white with envy. The fellows in Remy’s Plant 11 thought the world of John. He was an honest man and strong in his faith and friendships. John was a handsome sailor who could have had any woman he wanted, and that’s exactly what he did when he found Arlene.
Arlene, like John, is strong in her faith and has shone beautiful in all phases of her life, from her dark hair and trim Navy uniform to her thick snow white crown and enticing smile of her later years. She was born the same year as my mother and like her, Arlene lost her father when she was quite young to the flu pandemic that swept the world just after World War I.
Arlene did her best to help her mother and brother through those difficult years.
As a result she grew into a woman who was less outgoing than her peers, but one could rely on Arlene as no other.
When she paid a compliment it had true value. When someone needed help she did so without thought of personal reward. When she gave her love it was deep, sincere, and eternal.
Arlene wasn’t so sure about that tall Casanova who was also a Navy storekeeper in the A&R; facility in Corpus Christi. She soon found that it was the girls hitting on John more than he on them. Still it was a hard sell to the self-reliant Arlene who had actually once turned down a ride offer from Tyrone Power as she was walking across the base.
I wish you could see the photographs of the two when John finally convinced Arlene to marry him at the end of the war. I wish I could hand those joyful days to Arlene now. They went on to settle in Alexandria and to rear four beautiful girls and one handsome boy, all of whom have been a credit to their parents. I was lucky to marry their youngest daughter.
John succumbed to cancer in 1988, striving to the end to keep us in good cheer while he suffered.
Arlene struggles now with her own health, and while I don’t know her remaining span, it is never too soon to tell her how much I love her and admire how she overcame her early bitter struggles to give us a sweeter story.
Don McAllister directs the National Veteran’s Historical Archive. He can be reached at nvha01@hotmail.com. The Web site is www.nvharchive.org
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