Elaine Arenas

“My mom, Elaine Shirley Paige was born on September 22, 1947, to Wayne and Lillian Paige. Elaine spent her first seven years living on the Paige Turkey Ranch on Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark. In 1954, the family of three moved into a newly built house on McFadden Avenue in Moorpark, where my mom continued to live until 1972.

I have been thinking a lot this week about everything my mom knew and my mom knew a lot. She was born a princess and died a queen on October 9, 2025. Somewhere in those 78 years she figured out some truths that the rest of us are still working on. So, I want to share with you today some of the things my mother knew, because they are worth knowing.

**My mom knew love when she found it** - In the summer of 1969, my mom went to a small friendly gathering at her friend Jill’s house. There she unknowingly at the time met the love of her life and future husband, my pop, Michael Arenas. They talked throughout the evening and after he left Elaine stayed a little longer talking to Jill about the man she had just met. She told Jill, “I’m going to marry him” and in true Elaine fashion she got just what she wanted and the two were married on June 17, 1972, in Las Vegas, Nevada in front of family and friends.

**My mom knew nobody was perfect including herself. ** - One funny story I remember hearing about was an incident that happened during their first few weeks of marriage. They had to go to the DMV to have my mom’s name changed on her driver’s license. It would change from Elaine S Paige to Elaine S Arenas or so it should have. They waited in line, paperwork filled out and in hand. After a long while they reached the front of the line and my mom signed her name right there on the dotted line. She signed it as Elaine S Paige NOT Elaine S Arenas. Needless to say, ‘to the back of the line they went’ and my dad’s love, admiration and kind patience shined right through it all.

Three years of happily married went by fast and things just got better… I was born. On August 19, 1975, in Camarillo, California my mom and dad welcomed their one and only child, me, Alison Lynn. One picture I will never forget is the one of my Nina Anna holding me at the front door of my parents’ house. Nina had to carry me in because my mom was too scared to do so. I guess she was afraid she would drop me or something. Thankfully as the years went by my mom did not drop me but she did become the best mom a kid could ask for.

My mom was kind and fun. We were always laughing. Laughing at silly things or something goofy one of us might have said, like the time we were out at a restaurant. My mom was having a margarita and of course I had to have a sip or two or ten, but who was counting? A few minutes went by, I then looked at my mom, and I said ‘I better not have any more sips, that is a strong drink. My wees are neek!’ We both laughed at that silly sentence and every now and then we would think about that day and laugh again. My mom was funny. She had a really quick wit about her.

Another story I will never get tired of telling is when my mom, my friend Christi and I were out and about, like we so often were. We were in the car and a song called “Signs” by the band Tesla came on the radio. In that song there’s a couple of F-bombs. My mom always liked that song and she would usually sing along. Yes, even the F-bomb part. The first time Christi heard my mom say that I did not know what she might do! Her eyes were huge, her mouth agape and she finally squeaked “your mom just said the f-word!!” And from then on I do not think Christi ever got over that. I do know my mom never lived that one down either. The three of us laughed and Christi and I still laugh about it every now and then. Good times with my mom!

If life gave her lemons she would make lemonade and without a doubt she would add vodka. That was just her way. She was a beacon of positive light, yes, but she was also grounded, real, human. She did not pretend life was always easy. She just refused to let the hard parts dim her shine.

Losing her means losing so much. I will miss her smile, I will miss her crazy sense of humor, the way she could find funny in anything. I will miss her belief in me. She was one of my biggest fans. Even when I did not deserve it she had my back like no one else. I will miss the small things too. The ordinary moments that made up our relationship. Our Sunday trips to Target. Our Friday lunches at Cheesecake Factory. The way we would listen to music together and never miss an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians even though it sent my dad and Nina into an absolute tailspin when we watched it.

Those memories are precious to me now in a way I am not sure I fully appreciated before. Every Target run was time with my mom. Every lunch was a gift. Every song was us, together, sharing the soundtrack of our lives.

My mom lived 78 years, and she lived with them fully. She loved deeply and was deeply loved in return. She was funny, kind, and loyal-the three words that described her best. But that somehow does not capture the full force of who she was.

She was a woman who knew she would marry my father the first night she met him. She was the woman that accidentally signed her maiden name and had to get back in line. She was the professional shopper that always needed just one more thing. She was the Christian who sang the f-word. She was the princess that became a queen. She was the one that took life’s lemons, made lemonade, and added Tito’s!!

She was my mother. And while my heart is broken that she is gone, I am also grateful. Grateful for 78 years of her light in this world. Grateful for the 56 years she gave my pop. Grateful for every year, every day, every Target trip, and Cheesecake Factory lunch she gave me.

My mom believed in saying yes to life. She believed in being authentically, unapologetically herself. She believed in faith, in family, in friendship, and in finding joy wherever it could be found. As we say goodbye to her today, I think the best way we can honor her is to carry forward the light that she brought into the world, to love as boldly as she did, to laugh freely, to live as authentically, to say yes when it matters, and to make lemonade and add a little extra to make things better.

Mom, you were a beacon of positive light - a that light does not go out just because you are gone. It lives in Pop, who said yes to you for 56 years. It lives in me, carrying forward your humor and your heart. It lives in everyone whose life you touched with your kindness, your loyalty, your laughter. Thank you for being my mommy. What a true blessing that was. I am forever grateful to call you that, until we meet again… I will love and miss you every day.” ~ Allison Arenas