On Monday, February 9, we lost more than a leader; we lost a compass, a conscience, and a flame that refused to be extinguished. When I received the news that my friend, my teacher, my mentor, and my brother had transitioned at age 66, the silence that followed was deafening. For more than three decades, Salim walked through the halls of Virginia power not with a welcome mat, but with a blowtorch; illuminating uncomfortable truths that others preferred left in shadow. Now we must learn to navigate those halls with only the memory of his light to guide us.