By Denise James, A Best Friend Gina Anderson, 45, spent her life caring for others-friends and family, colleagues, patients who were among the neediest, and her three cats, Scout, Tex, and Marley. She rescued Marley, her youngest cat, after she saw him being abandoned on the roadside. Two months ago, she had no idea her time was coming, but over dinner, she said to me, "Promise me that if something happens to me, someone will take care of the cats." She wanted to make sure that her cats would stay together, and not end up in a shelter. That was typical of Gina-no-nonsense and pragmatic-to plan ahead. She became a doctor for the best reasons, because she wanted to help those most in need. Born in Palo Alto, Calif., she grew up in Minnesota, where she attended Edina High School. After spending a year in Italy as an exchange student, she entered Harvard University. Upon graduation, she worked at a consulting firm in Seattle before deciding to enroll in the Medical School of Wisconsin in 1996. Four years later, she completed her residency in obstetrics-gynecology at University of Texas Southwestern at Parkland Hospital. She chose Parkland because she wanted to provide care to poor patients who might otherwise be overlooked; at Parkland, half of her patients were indigent or illegal. She transferred to the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey for the same reasons, and she showed the same solicitude for her patients. In my years working with Gina, she was always fighting for what was best for her patients. Many of her patients were Latinos, and her Spanish improved immensely. She came up with detailed plans for them, and stayed on top of the academic literature. She often seemed to know more than the specialists did, and she was generous about mentoring residents and colleagues. I learned a lot from her-Gina wasn't shy about sharing her opinions! Gina also cared about the environment, and would forever harass her colleagues to get off their butts and walk the extra few steps down the hallway to recycle a piece of trash. She had just joined a vegetable coop in Jersey City, and had taken her turn staffing it a few weeks ago. Gina was so smart and so interested in the world, and she was just on the cusp of a new adventure. She had just accepted a new job recently at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Boston, which serves some of that city's neediest residents. She was an avid reader, of everything from books like the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to People magazine. She liked shopping. She loved going to restaurants, movies, and shows-though we were always intending to go to more. I'll miss walking around Jersey City with her, and popping in for a bite at IHOP, Red Lobster, or for one of her trademark margaritas at that Mexican place she liked so much. When Gina died on February 25, 2011, she left behind a younger brother, Evan Anderson of Edina, MN, her mother, Mary Roberts Scott of Thorp, WA, and her father Ron Anderson, Wayzata, MN. She also left behind friends like me. I had a baby recently, and she threw not one, but two, baby showers for me. It feels right to me that Gina was the very first person to meet my daughter. When I learned I was pregnant, she did the first ultrasounds with me. I remember looking at the images with her, and seeing the life growing inside. She was so excited for me. It's impossible to believe that she's gone now. I'll miss her terribly. Denise