by Kim Lamb Gregory
When her best friend was hit by a train, Gabrielle (Gabby) Vignone wrote about it. When she had her daughter at 15, she wrote about it. When she fell in love with a man and they raised four children before he went to prison, she wrote about it.
Never did the Class of 2016 海角社区CI alumna believe her writing was much more than a way to manage her feelings鈥攗ntil she met Professor of English (now Emeritus) Joan Peters, Ph.D.
鈥淪he saw something in me,鈥� said Vignone, 39. 鈥淲hen I was writing short stories in her class, Joan was a real inspiration. She would ask 鈥榃hat comes next?鈥� or 鈥榃hat happened in between?鈥� Joan wanted me to link all my short stories together and that鈥檚 how it became a book. She has been my biggest supporter ever since, and the editor of my book.鈥�
A chapter from Vignone鈥檚 book, 鈥淢i Chaos: A Chola Love Story,鈥� was published in the Santa Barbara (SB) Independent recently鈥攁 chapter called 鈥淗ow I Met Mick.鈥�
鈥淭he cops slowed down probably because they had seen two cars parked on the street. They used that big old spotlight they have on top of their cars and flashed the park a few times.
We all stayed still as stone. The light moved over our faces, but the castle walls blocked us from view. The cops left, I whispered, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e gone, we should go before they come back鈥︹�欌��
Vignone wrote about how much she and William 鈥淢ick鈥� Caceres talked that night as they moved from the park to the beach鈥nd how she knew right then how he would become part of her life.
鈥淚 told my mom, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 going to be the man I marry鈥�.鈥� We never did, marry, but that鈥檚 another story, a longer one.鈥�
SB Independent readers left rave reviews in the comments section.
鈥淲here can we read the entire memoir?鈥�
鈥淩eally good. Next chapter, please.鈥�
鈥淚s the memoir available for purchase?鈥� (Not yet, but keep checking her website.)
Peters was thrilled that readers also recognized Vignone鈥檚 talent, just as she had when Vignone took Peters鈥� creative non-fiction class.
鈥淚n the first weeks of class, she wrote a knock-out story about her small son's first grand mal seizure describing not only him, but the story of her life as a single mother,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淕abby wrote with an energy so fierce that when a computer wasn't available, she'd write on her phone. And did this with a full-time job and three children to raise on her own!鈥�
In her memoir, Vignone is raw and honest about being raised by a single mother after her heroin-addicted father died when she was 15.
How she had her first child at 15, a second child at 20, and the third by 21.
The chapter in the Independent is about Vignone鈥檚 teen years hanging out with her best friend Victoria Vaccarello in a Santa Barbara of 20 years ago鈥攍ong before Vaccarello was killed by a train in April of 2020.
But above all, it鈥檚 about the Los Angeles boy she met that night in 2001.
Before a grand theft auto conviction landed him in prison, where he would die in 2019, the couple raised four children: a child he fathered at 14 named Jazmine, now 24: 聽Salina, now 23; Makayla, now 19; and William 鈥淕ino鈥� III, now 17.
Vignone has since found new love, and given birth to a daughter on Valentines Day, 2022. Besides writing, she found a career passion as executive director of House Farm Workers!, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding safe and affordable housing for farm workers.
On Vignone鈥檚 website, www.gabriellevignone.com, Peters writes:
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen Gabby grow from a wild-child gang girl to a mother steering her children through a gauntlet of illness, depression and teen pregnancy. As a reflective adult and an immensely talented writer, she offers an immersion into a world that has never been written about by someone who lived it.鈥�