Dearest Ileana, I am sorry that it has taken me some time to write this but every time i sit to write i have just not been able to find all of those words - any of those words - that would somehow capture the many ways in which you have touched my life. So let me start at the beginning. I remember so clearly the first day that we met when i first showed you Big White Wall. As i watched you looking at the presentation it was my first experience of seeing that intense concentration that you gave everything without knowing what you were thinking. You looked serious and thoughtful and i thought you found BWW disappointing. Instead of which, at the end, you smiled and your eyes shone as you said 'this is the one i have been looking for'. And i felt like a kid from school who had just REALLY pleased her teacher. And i knew in that moment that BWW was looking for you too - not at that time as a leader - but as a collaborator. So it was like opening all my Christmas presents at once (and how you loved your Christmas's!) when you came to work with BWW. Over the next couple of years, i experienced your immense and rare talents - a genius of marketing strategy, adept with financial and other performance data, a highly skilled and thougtful manager and this HUGE passion about improving access to healthcare through technology. You were the only person who could manage me - and you were so so smart and clever that i did not even realise you were doing it! What i learned from you made a critical difference to Big White Wall and your leadership took the company to a completely new level. My 'baby' was not just safe in your hands but it grew into a really beautiful independent company that will carry your wisdom for years to come. You were the second founder and the best! At a personal level, you were one of those rare friends. One of the few with whom we connect deeply in life - as if we have known one another all of our lives. I will never ever forget when you picked me up at the airport in SF in a red mustang - an upgrade from the hire car company - roaring with laughter at its absurdity. Then we got bored at the conference we were at and drove off to the ocean. That was an extraordinary trip - when you talked of how you met Russ and the early days when Rachel was born - and your jobs - and your thoughts - and we got to the ocean in the dark and just stood and listened to its roar. You were silent and transfixed. You were at one with nature and its immensity. You told me time after time that the universe was listening and would give back. You had that love of poetry and wise words. You would send me something that had caused you to think - as support and as comfort. You were ready to laugh - and had this incredible kind of 'what will be, will be' calm. I am so sorry that you did not have the opportunity to see those things you talked about come to pass - seeing Rachel through college and into happy adulthold, travelling Europe with Russ and helping the healthcare system in Romania - a country that was a significant part of your own heritage. Yet your legacy is huge . Rachel is such a wonderful and smart young woman. The healthcare systems here and in the US have benefited hugely from your talents. We, your friends and colleagues are so much richer for having known you. I talk to you every day my dear friend. I see you smile. I hear your words. You are forever a part of my life. With profound love, Jen