Maria Elena Santiago’s mother died when she was a child. Her father sent her to live with her aunt in New York, where she got a job at Peermusic publishing, where her aunt was the head of Latin American music. Two weeks after starting the job, Buddy Holly walked in and fell in love with her. He asked her on a date (the first of her life) and proposed to her four hours into it. She gave a snarky reply, but they were married less than two months later in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. They settled there until he split from The Crickets, then moved to New York. She performed wifely and managerial duties on tour with him. Less than six months into their marriage, she was two weeks pregnant and didn’t join him on the Winter Dance Party tour. His plane crashed partway into the tour, and Buddy Holly died at the age of 22, ending a musical career that lasted less than two years and is one of the most influential in American history. She miscarried due to psychological trauma.

She blamed herself. She did not attend the funeral. She has never visited the grave site.

She has never gotten over his death.

This is without a doubt one of the saddest stories in the world.