Vincenta

I know lots of Johns. I know a lot of Steves and Emilys. I even know a few Ringos and Rachels.

I know one Vincenta.

Vincenta left this world way too early this December from Cushing's disease, and there is nothing to fill the void after her passing. We move on without her simply because we must.

I don’t mourn her because she was a good mother, wife or person. I don’t mourn her because she was a pastor, a nurse, or an advocate. I don’t even mourn her because she was kind, loving and accepting. I mourn her because she understood me.

Vincenta had a soft spot for creative types. She loved to sing, and supported many actors, musicians and writers. Not financially, as she wasn’t the richest person in that sense, but with empathy and understanding.

She understood the toll the creative endeavor takes on a person. She knew how it could wreck your relationships, employment and organization. Yet Vincenta lived it in her own life, and admired those who tried. She admired the passion and drive behind a creative project, whether it was a play her daughter was in, the musicians in her praise band or my upcoming comic book for Comic-Con.

She had one stipulation: you had to take a Christian approach to your work. What good was it to have violence and nudity if all you wanted was just to shock people? It had to have a purpose. Even if some people would prefer to focus on the titillation rather than the message in my Pretty Vacant comics, I have tried to live by it as well.

I will miss the fannish connections Vincenta and I had regarding television shows such as ‘The Good Life’, ‘Chuck’ and ‘Doctor Who’, and will not look the same way at shows she introduced to me (‘Doc Martin’ and ‘Downton Abbey’). I will miss the discussions we had about inserting positive themes in your work (I prefer consistently subtle). Most of all, I just will miss her.

Vincenta was one of a kind.