KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A year after the Chiefs rally shooting that resulted in Lisa Lopez-Galvan’s death, her family is still adjusting to a life without her.
There’s only one way her daughter, Adriana, describes what the past year’s been like.
“Emotional roller coaster, I would say,” Galvan said. "It was very heart-breaking for sure, but we know that God wanted her up there. He needed her more than us down here.”
Adriana’s dad, Mike, has been riding that same emotional roller coaster this past year.
“Feel like you're okay one minute and the next minute, you're just torn apart,” Galvan said. “It’s really a hard thing to get through, especially when you got somebody like Lisa.”
Neither of the two can believe it’s been a year since they lost Lisa.
“It's actually come around pretty quick,” Mike Galvan said. “That was one of the happiest times I've seen her, and one of the worst times for me and my family. It's bittersweet.”
KSHB 41 talked with Mike and Adriana in the family’s ‘mancave,’ a place full of memories, including their family watching the Super Bowl together in 2024.
In the past year, the memorabilia in the room has grown, but it still doesn’t fill a void.
“Nobody'll be able to take her place,” he said. “At least not in my heart.”
As the saying goes, Mike says, the world keeps turning. So does Adriana, who has carried on her mother’s legacy as a DJ.
“I just stepped in and decided to continue her DJ-ing and get some gigs of my own and then also continue hers,” Galvan said.
It’s hard not to see so much of her mom in herself.
“She was my best friend, for sure. Everybody used to call me her mini-me, little Lisa,” Galvan said. “She was just a lively spirit, and everybody loved her. She was very social, and I have some of those traits too."
Adriana is now using those traits to embody her mom in her everyday life.
"I’m just here just to be comfort for my whole family because they see a visual of herself with me, and I’m just trying to keep her legacy alive in the midst of it," Galvan said. "I try to live my life like how my mom would want me to and just keep my faith alive and keep God in my head all the time."
This family lost more than just a mother and a soulmate.
“She actually did it all, you know,” Mike Galvan said. “Superwoman to me.”
A superhero who used her powers for good.
“She would be the person that would, if you needed something, she would make it happen,” he said. “She would walk into the room with her big smile and light up the whole room.
It's not just family that's had to cope with Lisa's loss. Beyond being a radio host, Lisa was also a part of various community organizations.
"The community suffers a tremendous amount just missing her," he said.
Walking the road without her is tough, Mike says.
“It's not getting any easier, that's for sure, but at least we’re learning to cope with it a little bit better,” he said. “I take one step at a time.”
All while making sure not to abandon his faith.
“I thank God that at least I had her in my life,” Mike said.
But her absence is a reminder of an uncomfortable reality.
“I just want everybody to be aware that gun violence is a big part of our community, and it’s normalized now unfortunately, and not a lot of people realize that it’s a big thing until it happens to their families,” Galvan said. “I just want people to just be aware of their surroundings and just know that anything can happen right then and there. It can’t change unless we do something about it, and it just starts with the city.”
Adriana says she wouldn’t wish her tears on anyone.
“You never know when your last moments with them will be,” Adriana said.
The Galvans are still adjusting, but they have faith Lisa’s in a better place. That’s how they find comfort.
“She's with us,” Mike said. “She's looking down on us, hopefully we can continue to carry on and get through this ordeal.”
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