In Vilnius last New Year with my partner searching for my grandfather’s family, we visited Irena on a tip from our dear friend Bill M. “She’s the wisest person I know,” he said. After a few minutes, we told our story of how we fell in love and were then separated for twenty years. “90% of people never get the chance to experience true love,” she said. And she went on to give us the warmest, most insightful advice about how to grow love that we could ever hope to hear. As we got up to leave some hours later, fed and watered and feeling blessed, she showed us a box of pebbles. “I collected them from the Baltic Sea, ” she said. “Take one and keep it with you always.” It is in my wallet to this day. As we were leaving, she mentioned that reading was a strain, and she misses reading novels in Russian. I mentioned that there are free sites for audio books in Russian, and that I would send her some. Last week, I came across a new site, and was just getting ready to email it to her when the message came through from Bill that she had passed away. Thank Irena for blessing us with your kindness and wisdom. We will never forget you.