Life story

"Arline, as told by herself…

In 1965 I vowed I would never marry or have children. Today, I’m thrilled to report that we have 5 children, 3 daughter-in-laws, 1 son-in-law and 13 grandchildren, and I have been married for 45 years. Okay, so I only bore two of these children, but I consider them all mine.

After graduating from Cal State Long Beach, I returned to Santa Ana and taught 2nd grade at John Adams elementary. I was one of the few bilingual teachers in the district. After two years I convinced the school district to take a chance on a bilingual educational television program. Educational T.V. was in its infancy. They agreed and “The Number Shop” or “El Mercado de los Numeros” was born. I wrote and hosted this math program. We sold the program to KCET, the Los Angeles PBS station, where the program was distributed throughout Southern California. Then I accepted a job with another station working on two programs: an entertainment series about summer happenings, and a biweekly news program. Lots of fun! I rode an elephant from the train station to the convention center, covered the surfing competition, covered the national offshore powerboat competition, and was hypnotized on-air. I looked like an idiot the entire time.

I then married a divorced man with four children. Many were not happy with my decision, and when we returned from our honeymoon he was fired from his job. That meant I was now supporting his four children. I was advised (unsolicited) to annul the marriage, which I refused to do. He went on to start the biotech industry in San Diego which included pioneering the first PSA tests. Later he started a company to develop a new hormone for controlling diabetes. Life with Ted has not been boring.

We have put all our children through college. They all have children who love sailing, chicken and noodles, and popcorn. A must if you’re going to live in this family.

We’ve been to 7 continents including Antarctica. We’ve crossed the equator: I’ve been re-reading my list of felony charges by King Neptune when I successfully converted from a pollywog to a shellback.

I’ve been served monkey brain soup in China, something “unrecognizable” in Kenya, and Grasshoppers in Thailand. None of which I could eat.

In 2001 I started a scholarship fund at Santa Ana College in honor of my father. These scholarships are awarded to Hispanic kids majoring in Engineering, Biology, or Chemistry and who are transferring to a 4-year college. Help is given for tuition and books.

We still have our house in San Diego, but have retired to Northern Michigan with the deer, wild turkeys and abundance of birds that hover at the kitchen window when the bird feeders are empty. In the summer all our kids arrive. They wouldn’t want to miss the watermelon seed spitting contest!

For more pictures of Arline, please go to http://www.arlinegreene.com/. "