Gina took her first in-breath on March 19, 1965 in the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, CA and took her last breath 45 years later on January 25, 2011 in Jersey City. A massive blood clot traveled into her lungs and ruined her heart. She called 911 from her apartment, but after many hours of surgery, her heart could no longer function on its own. Gina’s only sibling, Evan, was born two years later in the same hospital. The following year the whole family moved to Minnesota. Gina and Evan were unusually close throughout their 40-some years. At the age of two, Gina learned to read, and when she went to kindergarten, they bumped her up to first grade. During her entire life, she exhibited remarkable memory and a brilliant mind. Very smart people talked about Gina as smart. These gifts enabled her to be an extremely competent doctor. Yet she never considered herself better than anyone else. Gina’s brilliant mind was matched with a sense of responsibility. She did not shy away from hard work. She specialized in obstetrics and gynecology and often worked all night delivering babies or conducting surgery. Gina graduated with honors from Edina High School in 1982 and then spent a year in Parma, Italy as an exchange student. She entered Harvard University in 1983 and graduated with an applied science major in 1988. For five years after graduation, she moved to Seattle and worked for a healthcare management consulting firm, which led to her of her desire to become a doctor. She graduated in 1996 from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and obtained a residency at the Parkland Hospital in Dallas, known for delivering more babies than any other hospital in the United States. After completing her residency at Parkland Hospital, Gina served for five years as assistant professor of Ob/Gyn at the University of Texas, Southwestern in Dallas. Then she moved to Jersey City and served on the Ob/Gyn clinical faculty of the New Jersey Medical School in Newark for the last six years. She recently accepted a new appointment to start March 1 at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, MA with clinical faculty status at Harvard. Gina Anderson’s legacy is highlighted by her service as an extremely competent doctor and mentor that compassionately took joy in helping the underserved women of all social groups in the ethnically diverse cities of Dallas and Newark. Gina's professional life was dedicated to women's health issues yet like many doctors including her grandfather, a missionary doctor in Ethiopia, she did not always give enough attention to her own health. In Gina’s personal life during the past 5 years, she had learned to accept suffering not only as inevitable, but also as something from which one can learn and grow. On two occasions, she went to events to listen to the Dalai Lama. On another occasion in New York City, she went with her father to a presentation by Thich Nhat Hanh. While Gina was agnostic about the afterlife, she was emotionally touched by his message "surrender yourself to the now." Like most of us, she had been living her life too much in the past or future rather than the joys and pains of the present moment. Probably her most favorite author for inspiration was Pema Chodron. Earlier this year she went to one of her weekend workshops at the Omega Institute in New York City. Just within the past month, Gina went to a lecture of Karen Armstrong, renowned historian of religion and founder of the Charter for Compassion. At the lecture, Gina got an autographed copy of her latest book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. The book was resting on her bedside table on her last day. The book captures the spirit of Gina's philosophy of life, which was to work compassionately and to play compassionately. In her work, she lovingly came to the aid of thousands of women, most of whom were poor, ethnic minorities, and struggling with all kinds of personal and social problems. In her play, she revealed her compassion by spending most of her spare time with friends, family, and attending to her three cats. She also supported many social causes with her donations and time. During the week before her tragic death, Gina was happy and in good spirits. She was very excited about her move and had already purchased a new condo there. Her passing left her friends and family in a state of shock and sorrow. A memorial book will be assembled on her life. Please leave stories, thoughts and pictures on this site for this book. Please reflect on the exemplary, full, and sometimes humorous life of Gina, and enter them on this website. They will become part of her biography and legacy. She deserves our tears and she deserves our celebration of her competence, compassion, and her many contributions to our lives and the thousands that she touched. Gina was also very compassionate about animals. As most of you know, her 3 cats, all of which were rescue cats, were like family to her. Her hope was that the 3 cats could stay together and we are trying to find a home where they can be together and be loved. PLEASE HELP FIND A HOME FOR THESE ORPHANS. All three cats are current on their shots and have vet records that they are good cats without health problems. The two males were raised by Gina from kittens. Scout and Tex are strong fun cats that would probably be good with dogs over six pounds. Marley is a calico female, adopted by Gina in Jersey City as an adult cat. Marley is very sweet. Gina's brother Evan is the contact for these cats and is flexible about delivering the orphans to a new home even out of state. Please email Evan at eeugene@earthlink.net.