Arleen C. Twedt
Our loving and caring mother died peacefully on January 9, 2019, she was 81 years old. Arleen was born and raised in Baltic, South Dakota and lived in Santa Barbara, California for the past 54 years.
We offer this poem inspired by the beautiful arc of her life:
White Flowers
Last night
In the fields
I lay down in the darkness
to think about death,
but instead I fell asleep,
as if in a vast and sloping room
filled with those white flowers
that open all summer,
sticky and untidy,
in the warm fields.
When I woke
the morning light was just slipping
in front of the stars,
and I was covered
with blossoms.
I don’t know
how it happened—
I don’t know
if my body went diving down
under the sugary vines
in some sleep-sharpened affinity
with the depths, or whether
that green energy
rose like a wave
and curled over me, claiming me
in its husky arms.
I pushed them away, but I didn’t rise.
Never in my life had I felt so plush,
or so slippery,
or so resplendently empty.
Never in my life
had I felt myself so near
that porous line
where my own body was done with
and the roots and the stems and the flower
began.
May Arleen be loved for the little girl she was, the special mother, wife and friend that she was and the precious soul she will always be.
Arleen was preceded in death by her husband Russ. She is survived by her brother, Verne Endahl, daughter Sarah (Paul), her son Paul (Grace), her great grandson, Joshua, her great granddaughter Alanna, and her beloved cat and second love of her life, Barney.
Celebration of Life service and reception for Russ and Arleen Twedt will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2019, 11:00am at Christ Lutheran Church, 6595 Covington Way, Goleta.
We would like to thank Samarkand and the caregivers from the Smith Health Center, as well as to the Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care. Your compassionate care and empathy helped our mother navigate the last few years of her life.