Shared Memories: Rekha Narang

Dearest June and Sean,

I am so sorry that we were not able to be at Caia's memorial service in Ottawa. I was in Nova Scotia with my family when I received the news about Caia.

I remember when my husband Kevin used to laugh at me after Caia left our book club meetings because he said that I looked like a little kid when I looked up at her when we talked (I'm not even 5 feet tall). The truth is that I really did look up to Caia. She was, without a doubt, one of the smartest people I have ever known and I learned a lot from her. I loved our engaging conversations about books, which always digressed into a wide variety of topics. She always listened so intently, and disagreed so non-confrontationally but with such conviction in what she believed. After Caia moved to Montreal, I had completely lost my interest in book club because what I truly enjoyed were the conversations I had with her.

Right after I got the news at my parent's house I dug up my wedding photos to find pictures of Caia. I am so glad that she was able to be there to celebrate with us. We had over 300 people at our wedding and so many people noticed and commented on Caia and Ben...my two friends who were dancing up a storm at the reception.

Caia was a wonderful mentor for me when we worked together at Netron. I'll never forget how I was able to rely on her when I found myself on a tough consulting assignment in Jacksonville, Florida. She was there on vacation and once she found out that I needed help she gave up her vacation time and worked with me through the night to make sure that I would succeed the next day at work. It was such a small example of her strength of character.

I regret that our contact over the last two years was only by email or cards. She was planning on coming to visit my son Jayvyn in February on one of her trips to Toronto but had to cancel because she wasn't up for it after being busy with Ben's and Mike and Kirsten's wedding activities. I am so sad that we weren't able to connect at that time. I'm sorry that I wasn't a better friend to Caia these past few years. It's ridiculous how busy we can get doing nothing and forget to take the time to do what really matters. Despite the fact that I hadn't seen her since I visited her in Montreal with Gina a few years ago, I still valued our friendship very much. She will always be a great inspiration in my life.

With love, Rekha