This one is very personal, and makes me aware I should have been paying closer attention than I did. When I didn’t see Adalisa at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I chalked up her absence due more to Trump’s border policies than anything else, and thus sent email asking her to confirm the address I should send her comp copy of the KNUCKLES OMNIBUS to. I never followed up on that email as she always got back to me. Then I got lost in all the things I was working on and taking care of.
Today I discovered Adalisa had passed away on September 6 of this year, and I was devastated. This was a person full of life whom I looked forward to seeing at Comic-Con each year, who would show me the latest in what she was up as well as telling me what a fan she was of my work.
More than that, Adalisa was the first to offer her services as a Spanish language translator for THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES App, making it clear she was committed to the project until it was finished. Only I never knew she had health issues that would cut short that commitment.
Adalisa stood by my side and believed in what I was doing even while I was taking criticism from all directions, even standing up to critics at Comic-Con who were putting me down. I never asked her to defend me, but she never hesitated.
Adalisa was but one of a handful of people who have assisted me with getting my projects out, and her passing makes me realize how special these people are, that they aren’t just random strangers doing a job for me.
While I did express my appreciation for her commitment and dedication to my work in general and THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES in particular in our email exchanges, I just wish I had a chance to say that in person before her passing, to give her a hug and tell her she was special.
Because she was.
