In my lifetime, I've experienced the loss of close people go, such as my parents, my grandparents, and other relatives. However, I had never experienced the death of a friend until Angélica passed on this day a year ago.
A native of Eibar—a city in the Basque Country—Angélica Aldazabal Fariñas was born on March 15, 1975. The few things that I know of her first 30 years is that she graduated from the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea with a licentiate degree in Journalism.
In the mid-2000s, Angélica relocated to Barcelona (Catalonia). We met while we were working for LG Electronics at Sitel Ibérica. Since we were both in bands, we began hanging outside of work and eventually became friends. When I think of places such as Malpaso, Pony, or Monasterio, she always comes to mind.
Up until 2009, Angélica was the bass player for power-pop band Hipnosis Kardiaka. It was through them that I got to meet Go Ape—one of the most exciting projects I've ever been involved with. She even played with us while we had no permanent bass player. Our bands played together in venues such as Sidecar, La Capsa, Be Cool, and Kasal de Joves Roquetes.
The 2010s saw us working together again. This time we were part of the social media management team at Banco Sabadell. By then, Angélica had moved from a vintage apartment in the El Born district of Barcelona to the industrial city of Sabadell. There, she joined a band called The Warrants with two co-workers.
Not only was Angélica one of the greatest friends I've ever had. She was also an analytical thinker and a decisive professional. She never lost her cool and knew how to turn a conversation with a client into a business opportunity.
One of our last happy memories in person was when she attended my wedding in 2014. I remember meeting her a final time before I relocated to the U.S. in the summer of 2016.
It was after I moved that Angélica told me that she had been diagnosed with cancer and that she was going back to the Basque Country. We continued to be in touch and often did video calls. I honestly believed that she was going to beat it, especially after she told me that she was visiting Barcelona at the beginning of the summer of 2018.
My last interaction with Angélica was a text message that she sent me in late July of 2018. I was still hopeful but became increasingly worried as I wasn't able to get ahold of her. Since I never got to meet her family, I got the news through a former co-worker.
A year later, I still miss Angélica. It took me some time to get used to the fact that she wasn't with us anymore. I often look at our pictures together. I've also searched her on Google, hoping to find something "new" about her.
I know that Angélica's Facebook profile was converted into a memorial account. Unfortunately, only Facebook users can access that page. The rest of her Internet presence is mostly work-related.
That's why I wanted to write this post: to keep her memory alive and to ensure that she will never be forgotten. Thank you, Angélica, for the great moments we shared! I love you.