I "met" Jill online, when as a baby designer I was invited to join my first scrap store. She was already a well known and amazing designer. She and I hit it off straight away, same zodiac sign, same sense of humour, and although I lived on the opposite side of the world, we were often online at the same time, and would chat or sometimes even email if we missed each other with the time differences. Jill taught me so much, as a designer, and as a person. I admired her ability to jump in feet first as I'm much more inclined to stick a toe in the water than attack it with gusto like Jill. She taught me to be more like her. Even though I'm childless by choice, and generally hate talking about other people's children, I really enjoyed talking to Jill about Sydney & Hope, because she talked about how to raise them to be strong, independent women, who could go out into the world with confidence but also with empathy. They were things I could really relate to, and happily chatted about how to raise girls like that. Of course I heard about achievements and milestones too, but with Jill it was never sickly sweet, my kids are better than yours, she was proud of the girls and their contribution to who they were becoming. We bonded over our love for our respective fur kids, crying over losses and sharing the excitement of new family fur members. I now call most people I know named Jill, by the nickname Jillber...the first time I did it to Jill, she fired back, no problems Jobart! She was the first Jillber, the original and the best. She was my friend, a mentor, someone who loved life and the people in it fiercely, someone I loved and I will miss in the years to come. RIP Jillber.