Back in 2017 Ella persuaded me to go to Nocturnal Wonderland, I ended up driving to LA a few days in advance and, on the day of the festival, I picked her up from LAX at around 6am. Since the festival was held in San Bernardino, she was expecting a quick hour and a half drive to get there. Needless to say, we didn’t arrive at the festival until more than 12 hours later, after an absolute smorgasbord of shanagins. What was supposed to be a short drive, turned out to be a whole adventure, with car trouble, and some other stuff (this story is better told in person). I remember at one point, we were both starving and driving aimlessly around Rancho Cucamonga looking for somewhere that would actually serve vegetarian food, and making up jokes about snakes.
She had such a bright personality and could make the best of any situation. She made sure to go out of her way to make you feel included, loved, welcome. She was one of the most gentle people I’ve ever met. Ella knew how to have fun. Everyone who knows her will remember her smile so big that you couldn’t see her eyes, and how she sort of squeals with excitement when she sees an old friend, or when you’re talking about one of the many things she is interested in. She was an absolutely genuine human being. I’m proud to have had someone like that as a friend.
