And I Wish On A Star…

Yesterday (03/31/25) marked the 30th anniversary of the death of Selena Quintanilla.  It’s hard to believe that she’s been gone for three decades, but alas, here we are.  This isn’t one of those situations where I’m left wondering where I was or what I was doing when I found out that she had died.  I’ll be honest.  Prior to her death, I was not a fan.  I was one of those people who started listening to her music after she died, especially after I learned that she had done some songs in English.  Growing up, I was never exposed to music in Spanish and so even as a young adult, that kind of music never really appealed to me.     

Strangely enough, after I got into Selena’s music and started sifting through her library of work, I found myself listening to the music that she had made in Spanish.  Eventually, I was listening to anything and everything that she had done, regardless of the language in which she had performed.  I suppose it didn’t take me long to become a fan.  To this day, I still like her music.  I figure, I’ve been listening to it for nearly 30 years, so why wouldn’t her music still be appealing to me? 

I didn’t buy her posthumously released album, “Dreaming of You”, until late 1995, months after it released.  I was already at USC and I remember buying the CD at the Pertusati University Bookstore on campus.  I think I bought it on a Friday, which was during the first of two semesters where I had a class on Friday.  I was on campus that morning and after class, I had gotten that random bug up my butt to go and buy her album.  You could say that I bought it on a whim.  I used to do that from time to time back then and I suppose I still do that today. 

Maybe it wasn’t entirely on a whim alone. 

I want to say that I’ve written about this before, but for the sake of being redundant, I’ll delve into it again.  That year at USC, I had developed a crush on Marlisa.  She was a fellow psychology major and she was a year older than I was.  She wasn’t really along the lines of what I would have considered to have been my “type”.  Back then and even to some degree today, I tended to and still tend to go for women who were/are thick and had some meat on their bones.  I was on the heavier side myself when I started school that year, though by the end of that 1995-1996 academic year, I had dropped 50 pounds and kept it off.  Even still, I had an eye for the thick and voluptuous.  It turns out that Marlisa was neither.  She was more on the petite and slim side.  Of course, it didn’t matter to me that she was petite and slim because she was absolutely gorgeous in the face. 

We never dated and that opportunity would never present itself during our time at USC or even after.  She had a boyfriend, some loser type who rode a skateboard and seldom went to class.  Okay, I don’t actually know if he went to class or if he regularly skipped class.  I just like to think that he didn’t go to class that often and that in some way, he was dumb too, because I was of the mentality that Marlisa could have done so much better.  She could have.  It just wasn’t going to be me and years later, I’d be at peace with it.

So, back to that Selena CD…

I bought that CD, pretty much because of the song of the same name as the album, Dreaming of You (in case you forgot).  Whenever I would listen to that song, I couldn’t help but think of Marlisa.  For the next few years, whenever that I’d hear that song, visions of Marlisa would fill my head.  As time went on and as the decades passed, I eventually found that I could listen to the song without seeing her in my mind every time.  Having said that, I will still find myself thinking of her from time to time whenever that song comes on.  Even as I write this, I can’t help but think of her. 

A few years before she died, Selena did a song with Alvaro Torres, called “Buenos Amigos”.  My mom had introduced me to this song, once she discovered that I was getting into Selena’s music.  She was actually a fan of Alvaro Torres herself, where as I was not.  He only did songs in Spanish.  I wasn’t into listening to music in Spanish.  Still, I really liked this song then and I still do today. 

Not that I focus on this or anything, but one of the interesting fun facts about this song is that at the time they recorded this song, Torres and Selena were 17 years apart in age. 

I suppose love can exist at any age and/or regardless of the ages of the two individuals involved. 

One can only wonder what could have been had Selena still been alive today and was able to see and even celebrate her 54th birthday later this month on 04/16/25. 

Still, even though I got into her music well after she died, she still managed to give me some lasting memories. 

That’s just the power of music, I guess.                  

Selena, may you continue to rest in peace.