Celebrating the life of

Christina Arnold

18 Sep 1946 - 26 Jul 2020

Family and friends

Welcome! Please share with us your memories of Christina. As you know, the last 2 decades have been dominated by her battle with dementia. So long has been spent on what was lost. We would love you to help us use this space to rebuild her life in all its robust dimensions. We know she had a wonderful gift of making people feel at home. Please share your stories of Christina Mother, Granna, Sister,... more

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1948

Elizabeth Lester Daisy, Sylvia and Christina Hines

1949

Kathleen Arnold Some lovely photos of Christina as a young child shared by Shirley. So much history in these photos. They make all the stories she told about her childhood come alive for me. Thank-you!

1958

Elizabeth Lester That's Christina on the right, with her brother in law, Fred Bradley, and he and Rose's children, Rosalie and Fred. Twelve years old? She seemed to have lots of good memories with them!

1961

Elizabeth Lester Thanks so much to Clay Dean for sharing old family photos on Facebook. This is Christina, at Eddie and Verna's wedding. I do not know what year, but I'm sure someone can help me out!

Verna H. This photo was taken November 4, 1961

1966

Kathleen Arnold My mom always told me the 2 street photos were taken by a guy on the street who would snap your photo and then ask you to buy it. She said one was taken on the way to the dentist and one on the way back.

1966

Elizabeth Lester 1966 - married Barry Arnold at City Hall

1974

Elizabeth Lester 1971 and 1974 - daughters Kathleen and Elizabeth were born

1979

Kathleen Arnold Love Elizabeth's jumpsuit in this photo. I believe I remember going to Sear's to have it done... approximately 1979?

1980

Elizabeth Lester Christina took up square dancing and round dancing. She developed a tight group of friends including Joan and Joyce. She loved to dance, and this passion for social dancing remained a big part of her life for many years.

1980

Elizabeth Lester "Old enough to know better" (and on the back) "but young enough to do it again" In 1978, Christina and Barry separated. Although it was initially an awful shock, this began a time of growth, new friends, and new hobbies. She returned to University to finish her degree.

1982

Elizabeth Lester The Summers of 1981 and 1982, Christina had a Summer job that was perfect for her. The first year she spent on 1985 Street, in Erasmus House, where she dyed and spun wool, making tea on the old wood stove, while welcoming visitors to the park. The second year, she was stationed in the Fort, in the Men's Quarters' kitchen. She baked bread daily in the bake oven just outside. The luckiest visitors timed it so they got to taste it just as it cooled. Delicious, whole wheat bread with molasses. She negotiated her daughters "volunteering", which means we ran almost wild at Fort Edmonton Park, in costume, with behind the scenes access. https://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/attractions-and-maps/

1988

Elizabeth Lester

2000

Elizabeth Lester Granna with Rita and Thompson

2002

Elizabeth Lester Granna loved being a grandmother. Always willing to play!

2003

Elizabeth Lester Granna helping Tom with his chocolate Easter bunny!

2012

Kathleen Arnold Mom enjoying crafts at her first dementia care center in Sherwood park. We used to walk her over for icecream at the Dairy Queen across the alley.

Apr 2018

Kathleen Arnold 2018 - a rare smile, in the dining room at Westcountry Hearth where they really took fine care of her from about 2016 to 2020.

2020

Kathleen Arnold Christina had a lot of gifts and passions. When I was very small I remember her sewing and baking bread. She made dress-up clothes like circle skirts and capes and dresses and witches hats. She could always be counted on to help with an outrageous Halloween costume or outfit for Klondike days. She took up cross country skiing, spinning, weaving and dying her own wool from natural dyes like onion skins. When I was a little older, she was wild for dancing. Square dancing, round dancing, old time couples dancing, anything at all, she was out dancing 2 or 3 nights a week. She took up clogging. After that she got into drum circles and making drums. Essential oils, salves and balms, Watercolor painting for several years. She painted vegetables and flowers all over her walls. She made pouches out of leather and fur and shells. She made things out of clay and soapstone. For a while she went swimming every morning before work. She got a dog, whom she loved, that she walked every day. She loved to touch people. She took her massage training, then ortho bionomy and cranial sacral therapy and more. And she loved to do treatments on people, usually for free. She could fix a sore muscle or headache in minutes with her healing hands. She relieved so much pain and created such relaxation and pleasure with her touch. She had an amazing gift.

Mental Health and Resiliency Although Christina was dogged by complex mental health challenges through out her life, she always rose again. Her life was punctuated by a series of severe crashes that made continuity and long term relationships a challenge. It wasn't until her early 40's that she finally got some medication for her depression, and sh...

Elizabeth Lester30 Jul 2020

Career: Christina completed her teaching degree at University of Alberta, specializing in Early Childhood Education. She worked a little bit as a substitute teacher, before beginning work in a series of daycares. She had a passion for preschool aged children, and the kids always mattered to her, even when the jobs were less than satisfying. She jo...

Elizabeth Lester30 Jul 2020