Treese Allen:
CLASS OF 1972
Arkansas High SchoolClass of 1972
Texarkana, AR
Treese's Story
Treese is from Texarkana, Arkansas. Treese's schools include Arkansas High School.
Music Treese likes includes Fans of Chet Baker, Barbra Streisand, Adele. Books Treese likes include The Bible, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Harry Potter. Movies Treese likes include Being There, Bringing Up Baby, The Princess Bride. TV shows Treese likes include Independent Lens | PBS, The National Parks: America's Best Idea (PBS), Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
One of Treese's favorite quotes is:"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself.
They remember your beauty when you feel ugly;
your wholeness when you are broken;
your innocence when you feel guilty;
and your purpose when you are confused. - African saying
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from my dog is to kick a few blades of grass over it and move on.
“Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live it?”―Caroline Myss
“Losing weight is an activity that drives us mad; thriving to be healthy and fit is a lifestyle that lasts forever.”―Daniel Chidiac".
More about Treese:"Dawn and I were one another's first love in 1972 when we were teenagers.
We met at St James Church in Texarkana where my dad served as priest and rector for 25 years.
Youth and the way of the world (especially the only world we knew then, i.e., Texarkana) intervened and we went our separate ways physically but never emotionally.
I remember sobbing my heart out and asking God why do we have to part, and I distinctly heard a still small voice respond "because I have infinitely better things in store for you both".
I left Texarkana in 1974 for college in Commerce (ETSU then and now TAMU) where I had a thrilling and enlightening and lengthy course of therapy sessions called a BA in Speech and Drama (I learned so much about myself and humankind).
A romantic relationship (which was doomed before it barely began) brought me to Fort Worth in 1977 where at a Roman Catholic day school I taught French, English, and Texas History (I felt somewhat qualified to teach French and English, but I hadn't a smidgen of knowledge about Texas History…grades 2 thru 8 at St James Day School in Texarkana gave me a great education in the broad liberal arts but it was lacking in civic and local history)
I enjoyed this experience immensely b...Expand for more
ut the salary was a pittance so I decided to take some sort of higher paying job which would allow me to simultaneously work on a graduate level degree in Library Science at Texas Woman's University in Denton.
I took a telephone company job at what was then GTE (now Verizon) in Irving Tx, and for the next 6 years commuted from Fort Worth to Irving to Denton.
Going in circles had me going crazy … being at the bottom of the seniority pole at GTE meant that I had no control over my work schedule which changed monthly and made it very difficult to schedule classes.
To make matters worse, at the end of those six years, I realized that the field of Library Science was not what I had initially envisioned … I had longed to worship at the altar of BOOKS not data retrieval via computers !
But I was prepared to make a niche for myself until I was then informed by the powers that be at TWU that I'd taken too long to complete my coursework and that I would have to repeat several of the courses.
I was sick at heart and soon sick in body. In 1991 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
I stared death in the eye, and by the grace of God and the love of my parents and friends I survived, but I no longer had the luxury of blithely walking away from a job which I hated but which provided me with 100% health coverage.
I stayed with GTE/Verizon for 30 years, coming to realize along the way the truth of the adage that what you do for a living is not who you are.
I moved to Dallas in 1993 where I created a very fulfilling life outside of GTE/Verizon, ministering to the homeless and people with HIV, being active in peace and justice and environmental issues, and exploring the variety of spiritual paths with God with alot of wonderful fellow pilgrims.
Then, miracle of miracles, in 1996, Dawn came back into my life, a joyous miracle which was second only to my adventure with cancer 5 years earlier. She had spent several years in Austin, getting her BS in Nursing, then lived and worked for several years in San Francisco. She came to visit her brother in Dallas and called me out of the blue.
Each of us had had other romantic relationships over the years, but neither of us had ever fell out of love with one another.
Turns out that still small voice I'd heard years before meant that we needed to part so that we could reunite with whole and mature hearts. The journey was well worth it and neither of us has any regrets.
In 1999, my dad died, and in 2008 we moved my 90-year-old mom from Texarkana to live with us.
Three weeks after I retired in 2009, Dawn was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. It was a difficult year, but after a double mastectomy and chemo and radiation, she now has a 5% chance of recurrence.
We are so grateful !".
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