My Maria, Maria in New York, New York

5/13/2023, the day my friend was set free. This is what Maria means to me.

I first met Maria in NYC in April of 2019 at The Pyramid Club in the East Village while visiting my friend Luzdivina. She was bartending that night and made us the strongest long island iced teas we've ever had. I remember watching her make it, too. I was thinking oh snap the entire time and then she topped it off with a tiny splash of coke. She hooked it up for us because after looking at our IDs, she shared that she too was from Houston. I felt an instant connection to her. A small hint of home away from home was right in front of me in NYC. Little did I know how much of an impact she'd have on my NY life and how she'd be there for me in the future when I made that big place my new home. We added each other on social media and have followed each other ever since. That memorable night was the night we first met and it wasn't by accident. Luzdivina and I danced the night away and I remember thinking how cool it was to have met such an awesome lady in New York. Even though she's from Texas, not all of the people there are mean. Especially not Maria.

Later that year, I remember she reached out asking about what all to do in San Francisco. She had seen that I recently visited and wanted recommendations. I gave her all the details and later saw she actually hit up a lot of what I recommended. That made me feel special, like she valued my opinion and what I said. That's just one beautiful thing about my friend, Maria. She made the people around her feel important and like she cared about them. Because she did. She was my only real friend in NYC and now she is the only person in my life who I've lost to cancer. Her life was taken too soon and I wish I could have visited her more. Especially her home in Bushwick that she mentioned often. I will miss hanging out with her and dancing at DROM and No Aloha. She would always ask if I had my pepper spray on me and told me to text her as soon as I made it home. She and Q would've driven me home if I had stayed until close at 4am, but that's just a glimpse into how caring she was. I remember when we went to Yuca Bar in East Village, her favorite, and we just talked about life. She would tell me she wished she was my age and single in NYC. She told me to live it up. Maria was life in all forms and she was an encourager of living it. Dancy people were her people. Lovers of 80s music were her people. Lonely people were her people. Sad people were her people. Fun people were her people. Goth people were her people. Gay people were her people. Streetlight people were her people. Night owls were her people. Anyone lucky enough to have met her and feel her warmth were her people. She genuinely cared for people, myself included. Before I even moved to NY she helped look at different places to live for me. She cautioned me to beware of scammers and called some of them on my behalf to give her two cents. She asked around to see if anyone she knew had somewhere for me to live. And when I finally arrived in NYC, she picked me and my parents up from La Guardia Airport in Queens, and drove us to the first place I thought I would live, in Flatbush, and welcomed me with "Welcome to New York" gifts.

I ended up moving to Sunset Park and she and her husband Q helped with that move as well. All within a couple of days, accommodating her schedule to help with mine. This transition into NYC was a huge deal for me and she was a huge part of it. And she did not have to do a single one of these things for me, but this is who I was blessed and lucky enough to have met in New York City. This is the kind of person Maria was. Good people. A genuine, caring human being with the best intentions who lived her life helping others whenever she could. She was always looking out for people and kept their best interest at heart. I remember feeling tired after work one day, but there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to go see the RHCP with her in New Jersey!

I feel so lucky she even considered inviting and taking me, and I am forever grateful for that experience with her. I remember we stopped by Trash and Vaudeville in East Village and across the street there was a bakery named Butter Lane where Maria and I decided to stop to get something sweet. She said she shouldn't be eating sweets, but that life is too short, so we should enjoy the damn sweets! And we did. I got a strawberry cupcake and she got a brownie. I love my friend who also felt like my mom in New York since mine was in Houston. She was a safe and comforting person to talk to, free of judgment and full of solutions.

I remembering visiting her in the hospital in Manhattan for the first time after finding out about her diagnosis. I brought her a medicine ball and a cookie from Starbucks. She was so grateful for it and for my visit overall, especially since her husband wasn't able to make it out that day. I sat there with her and just talked to her for hours. I tried my hardest not to cry in front of her, but I wanted to so bad. It broke my heart to see my friend sick and bound to a hospital bed. She stayed so strong the entire time even though what was happening to her wasn't fair. She radiated positivity to her best ability despite the negative effects of having cancer and I admire her fight and optimism. The second time I visited Maria, the nurse brought her two dinner plates by mistake and she kindly let me have one. I got to have dinner with Maria that night in the hospital room, which would inevitably be the last time I saw her. I wish I had more time with my beautiful friend and I wish she could know how much she means to me. This NY milestone in my life has highlights of Maria all in it and I will never forget her as long as I live. Her outlook on people and life is one I will carry with me and hold dear to my heart. I will remember her often, especially when I hear Madonna and 80s music, when I'm out enjoying nightlife, or when I talk about New York City. A place we both love and agree when we say "there's no place like NYC." Because there really isn't. Seeing how many people my friend impacted by being in their lives or just by knowing them warms my heart, and I feel so lucky to have been one of those people. She makes me want to be as badass of a woman as she was. New York City won't feel the same without you, but anytime I visit or anywhere I go, I will live it up for you. The way you would've encouraged and wanted me to. I am so heartbroken and will miss you dearly, but I am also so happy you finally have peace and are no longer in pain. Thank you, Maria, for every single thing. Even the things I didn't mention. I love you forever. WE ALL LOVE YOU FOREVER.