Photos / Facebook
SANTA CRUZ, CA — I just found out yesterday from my friend Janelle that my dear beautiful houseless friend, Aurora, died recently. She was one of my favorite people. She was this beautiful artist and had the sweetest disposition of just about anyone I have known. She almost always was smiling.
I met her at Ross Camp in May of 2019 when I stopped by her home to admire her beautiful painting that you see below and also to admire her little mailbox while someone was painting the fence. When the cops evicted everyone from Ross Camp, I always thought of her and I wondered what happened to that Angel who had such an artistic talent. I wondered if someone had her painting. After Ross Camp, I would run into her once in awhile. It’s hard to find people when they don’t have a stable location but luckily I was able to locate her again with a stable location at San Lorenzo Park and could almost always find her when I wanted to say hi, give her some health needs or art supplies. It was always a joy to see her as her heart was always full of love. One of those times, she gave me a purple beaded bracelet that she made that matched my purple things I wear a lot.
Recently, she told me she had some medical issues, something wrong with her heart, but I didn’t know the details. How ironic is that when she has such a beautiful heart. I put that in present tense since I feel her presence.
Last time I saw her which was about a week before she died, I gave her a jewelry kit since she also made jewelry. She told me she was going to make me a bracelet with some of the beads. Once I arrived at her tent with art supplies and she had written in the tent something like ‘Love you Abbi’. I wish I had taken a picture if it.
Her family had a beautiful memorial for her yesterday. There were over 15 houseless folks, half POC, who went to her memorial. Not many people leave their tent and possessions since they are afraid they will get stolen but yesterday they did leave their tents. Mack, her sweet, beautiful, big hearted boyfriend, is overwhelmed with grief. People I haven’t seen in months showed up, Dreamcatcher, Michael who lost his leg and many others.
In the past few months, 3 of my favorite houseless friends are gone… dear Enrique, Chief and now Aurora.
There have been over 15 deaths of houseless folks in the last 2 months. I feel so powerless to change any of what is going on in Santa Cruz.
Update on 8/31…
I just went through her Facebook page and I’m astounded to learn more about her. I so wish I had spent more time with her and gotten to know her better. I just added 6 more pictures of hers that I found on her Facebook page. Here is a video of Aurora singing back in 2013! Amazing and talented!
