Like Sarah, I don’t really remember how I met Cindy. She just kind of appeared one day at AOL and I got sucked into the Cindy Li Vortex of Fun Adventures. My favorite Cindy story of all-time was how the “Geeks Love *” shirt happened. Cindy, Jason and I were at lunch and I were at lunch one day after I’d spent all morning interviewing developers for a contract position. I’d quizzed them all about web standards and they’d all failed to some degree, except one smug guy who said, “Yeah, we’re really anal about standards, because, you know, geeks love anal.

Cindy has a way of getting us to achieve culinary feats we didn’t think possible! Last year we recreated the pastry swans we remembered from DeNoel’s pastry shop in St. Augustine. It was a multi-day process and worth every minute!

Since other people have shared how they met Cindy… I’ll share that… I really don’t know how I met Cindy, and I sort of love that. We both worked at Yahoo SF, but in different teams and on different floors. Still, I somehow felt both drawn and welcome to hang out with her. I can’t remember when we first met, but I do remember sneaking down to the 6th floor for the treats she used to save for me when we had ‘Treat Tuesday’, which somehow was only served to half the office.

My favorite story about our time together, is not something we did for one another, but what we did for your pops. I mean, eating Franklin’s BBQ with Arun, Matt, Ben, etc. on that Austin hotel balcony is up there. No doubt. But, the two us coordinating that FaceTime call with your pops during the Warriors championship game 5 is my favorite because it brought your father joy. Joy is what you bring to us.

There are a few songs about smiles, but this snippet from a Cold Play song seemed to best fit this photo … “God gave you style and gave you grace And put a smile upon your face” Isolde, Rebecca and I love you, Cindy. Matt, we will always be here for you and those darlin’ boys of yours.

The first day that Cindy and I hung out right after she moved to SF, I took her, with Ernie, to a gay synchronized swimming competition. There are few better ways to welcome someone to San Francisco.

Would you believe that Cindy, Julie and I tempered chocolate? First and only time for me.

@media conference in 2006 looking great.

Long, long time ago (2006). Dave went to Paris with Cindy, Veerle, and Geert. Here are some of the photos from that trip.

Friday nights..TGIF on ABC…3+ hours on the phone just listening, talking….not a care in the world. Until my sister or brother got on the phone saying they needed to use it. Oh…the days of the mid/late 80s. Good times. Everybody now…let’s all sing the theme song to “Full House”! LOL

One of my favorite moments was actually before we actually officially met! AOL HQ, 2000-2001ish. Going down the looooooooooong hallway, a person glided/levitated past me. Smile, ear to ear. I look 👀 ed down at your sneakers Cindy, still baffled. With the wink of an eye and a flip of your shoe, you revealed your heely’s :D Magic! It was Love at first sight

Also in 2011, Cindy and Matt were in Brighton for dConstruct, and Cindy and I made use of the photobooth, where we were supposed to make happy, sad, angry and scared faces. This photo never fails make me laugh.

The following year, we got to go to the French Laundry with Cindy and Matt and my brother and sister-in-law. Cindy drove us all out to Napa, where we visited a winery before heading to the restaurant. It was an epic, glorious, unforgettable meal, and it included a huge truffle in a fancy box that we all got to admire before it was sprinkled all over our food. We’ve had a lot of amazing meals with Cindy and Matt, but I don’t think any of them could top the French Laundry.

When Jeremy officiated Wed 2.0 in 2010, he was more nervous than I’d ever seen him. He used CSS to make a little fold-up booklet of everything he was supposed to say during the ceremony. He only went off-script once: “If any of you know any reason why these two should not be wed - you’re too late!” And Cindy dropped the ring, which plinky-plonked across the floor and cracked everyone up even more.