Taurus eclipse of the heart

I think I’ve said it before on social media that Taurus is my favorite astrological sign.

More than any other sign , including mine, it’s either at the center of a project or related in some capacity.

My love life has been , historically, almost consistently intertwined with Tauruses. Every formal relationship I’ve ever had has been with a Taurus moon or a Taurus sun. Is it a choice? Hardly, but it most definitely is a pattern I’ve picked up on. So the romantic relationships I write are pretty much rooted in either tauruses or interacting with tauruses. If you’re into astrology then you’ll probably pick up on that when you read San Expedito.

However, the ties to Taurus are way beyond romantic love or influencing characters.

See, 4 years ago I began a project. It was titled “Con Safos”, and it was to be a memoir comic in honor of my tio Ramon who passed away long before I was born. He was the only full blooded brother of my mom, and the first born of my grandma. He died before ever getting to see his twenties and, even more tragically, before he could see his son grow up. Though it’s not always discussed his death created a hole at the center of things. There was so much related to him that felt significant in the dynamics of our family as well as representative of the Chicano experience. For years I was compared to him, as I resembled him in many ways and it created this permanent curiosity. A Virgo locked in a stare down with a memory of a Taurus that was taken too soon. The project was massive in scale, it would’ve been centered on the stories given to me by my mom, my grandmother, and my tía Veronica (love of his life). I began my research with my grandma, who gave me his wallet and with it a window into his life. Nobody had seen these things in years, as my grandma stashed it away with the pain of a son who would never return. It came with all sorts of photos and lil documents, including a custom made card with his proclaimed love for my tía which inspired the name of the project. The biggest thing however, was a small booklet with information and a prayer for San Expedito.

In 2020, well the less to say the better right? But in 2020 I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t ready to take on a project of that scope. As the year progressed, and life became bleaker and more painful I decided to put it on pause as I was too depressed to even draw a circle. That was the same year my friend Zack passed, and with him went a part of me I didn’t know was mobile. I’ve talked about Zack before (See: The Bear on FX and memories long past) and I won’t get too in depth this time, but it’s significant to say that he was a Taurus too.

In September, a few months after Zacks passing, I was approached by Webtoon Latinamerica as they wanted to make new series and asked if I had a pitch. I decided to make a story of two friends that hadn’t seen each other. I wasn’t going to replicate him on paper, it would be stupid to think I could but it was the basic premise

“What if you could see your friend again? Make things right in your life and leave behind all this pain”

I needed a title and it came easy.

San Expedito

To remind myself of the story I am determined to make my way back to. To tell my family that my tíos story hasn’t left my mind, the way the memory of my friend hadn’t left my heart.

Love ‘em or grieve ‘em, tauruses have the habit of being a permanent staple of my life.