Goodbye Vidal


Vidal,

I need your help on a really hard bug.

Remember?
It was nearly three and a half years ago when I met you. When K^2 walked me around on my first day, I saw, for the first time, the smile of a person that would turn out to be one of the kindest, most helpful, hardest working people that I would ever meet. That smile would never fade; well, almost never, and that's why I need your help.

Remember?
You created the very first resource manager for NT, and then you and RobK and I would turn it into the new wave in software. I needed your help, at first, almost daily. Fighting windbg problems, fighting NT user problems, trying to understand the drivers. You never said no. We would sit and solve my problems and then try to solve the problems of the world.
And, always with a smile.

Remember?
You worked so hard every day, in an attempt to make the NT drivers and Nvidia the best. You worked long hours, long weeks. I don't know if anyone outside our group knows how hard you worked, or how much of yourself you put into your work.
And, always with a smile.

Remember?
I could not even imagine how many showstopper bugs, WHQL bugs, Dell bugs, ALL kinds of bugs that you fixed. And when you had more than you could do, you would offer to help one of us with ours.
And, always with a smile.

Remember?
You would tell me how much you wished you had the time to meet the right person. You would ask me if having someone waiting at home for you was as nice as it sounded. You would tell me, "Just as soon as I'm done with this project..." But the projects never ceased. You would just keep on working and working, without regard for yourself. Not even when you were sick. Not even when it was you that needed help.
And, the smile faded.

Well, I need your help on a really hard bug, now. I need to know why you had to leave. I've been working on this for a while, now, and I'm stuck. I need your help, but for the first time ever, you can't help me.

You were one of nicest people I have ever met, never without time for someone. Never without a smile.

And I will miss you.

And I will never forget you.