Alison Beth Cortes

Alison Cortes, 57, passed away on May 31, 2025.
Alison Cortes was a beautiful soul. One of the kindest persons you will ever meet. She loved to socialize and make new friends. She was the kind of person that could even get the shy to tell her their life's story. In many ways she was a safe space for others to confide and express themselves. She had an ability to totally accept people as they are without judgment and without pressure to change them. She was very wise and had a way of reaching people in places that needed extra love.
She was a mother of 3 beautiful girls and 1 boy. All of her kids love her dearly and are very grateful to have Alison as their mother.
Alison didn't accomplish much in life, as expected by the world. She had a rough start that led her down a path of pain and poverty. As an adopted child she was abused by her adopted mother and singled out as the adopted child. The horrors she went through haunted her memories her entire life. At age 15, she ran away from home and got in with the wrong crowds. She became addicted to drugs and preferred living in underprivileged communities. It was the only place that made her feel safe and accepted. It is where she found family.
Though she suffered silently in her life, she was a bright shining light to all those who had the honor of getting to know her. Her smile and way of making you feel seen has brought healing to many over the years.
It was a sad sad tragedy that her addictions caused her diagnosis of "Hyper-pulmonary-tension" and "right heart failure" in 2020. However, the last 5 years of her life were the best years of her life. It was at that time her only son, Alex Mijares, came back into her life to help her get sober and on a healthier lifestyle. With her son and eventual daughter-in-law, Alison moved from Los Angeles California, where she's been her entire life, to Western North Carolina.
In her last 5 years of being alive with her son and daughter-in-law she was able to do and see things she never had before. Her son took her on a cross country road trip to Mt Whitney, Crane Hot Springs in Oregon, Mt. Shasta California, Nevada, Yosemite National park, the Red Wood, The Grand Canyon, The Petrified Forest, the Birthplace of Elvis Presley and so much more. She got to try foods she never tried before. For the first time in her life she was able to live in an environment that intimately supported her and took care of her in ways that no one or anything could ever do before.
Alison was not the smartest woman, nor the most lucky or fortunate but she was wise and compassionate. She was trustworthy and pure. She was down to earth and real. Her greatest accomplishments are her 4 children that grew into their own lives and share that same light of compassion as their mother.
Alison was loved by many and will be missed by all those who had the honor of really getting to know her.
Rest in Peace now mom, your one and only son
Alex Mijares
The family chooses to memorialize her life privately