Please tell us your name and how you know Crit, and share what impact he has had on your career or how you have impacted his.
Hey, Gran, congratulations on your retirement, man. I think that it is incredibly well deserved. I mean, it's hard to believe when we first uh were working together at mass release in the eighties that some five decades later, that uh that we would still be doing this. And uh you will have had to mask the career that you did. I think one of my first early memories in learning from you was when we were in uh NMDA in Vegas. And we're trying to demo our first live cost per copy system that kept crashing. We had 75 to 80 of our largest dealer principal sitting in the audience and uh watching you somehow uh navigate that ad lib and make it successful was uh was one of the first of thousands of things that I learned from you. And then one of my goals early in my career was always to work with people that I liked, um work for people that I trusted um that I respected and I could learn from. And I think that's why over my career, I followed you to fidelity. And then ultimately after it was sold to city and then uh ultimately back to leaf and if you look at the, the journey along that way with acquisitions of JL A and um having to do our own term securitizations and you calling Steve Vario with cash balances every morning to make sure that we actually didn't bounce checks. And um and looking at what we were able to accomplish under your leadership, it's just, it's just remarkable. It really is. And then uh getting over to Leaf and buying Pacific Capital Bank Corp and buying Netbank, I think that I will always be eternally grateful that you gave me the opportunity and privilege to directly manage Dwight Galloway. I think it is definitely something I will never forget in my career as well. Um And then, you know, managing the financial crisis, I think that that's just uh very few if anybody could have accomplished that. And somehow you did, I mean, I remember some days just literally fighting to five o'clock so that uh Dave English could turn the clock and we could live to fight another day. Um And along the way, it's, it was clear that um it was really you that were holding everything together and then to see the business that you and miles had built over the last 15 years at Leaf. Um What a great legacy and uh hopefully you can now enjoy some of the fruits of that labor. Um You can spend more time with Mary and the kids um and enjoy yourself because it is incredibly well deserved. And um I just personally want to thank you for the incredible impact you've had on my life um for your mentorship, your leadership. Um the way that you've um helped develop me and more importantly, your friendship. I mean, I think that's one of the greatest gifts. Um something that I cherish every day. So look forward to seeing you in a few weeks and, uh, raising a toast. Take care. Correct.
