On February 24th, Eden Riegel puts in her last appearance on AMC after four and a half years as Bianca Montgomery. Shortly before taping her final scenes, the actress shared some heartfelt thoughts about just a few of the Pine Valley players who touched her life.

On Susan Lucci (Erica): "I feel unbelievably connected to her, like she's my second mom. And I have learned so, so much from her about what it means to be a professional and to give it your all every day, to be an advocate for your character and your

character's point of view. She is one of the most present people I know, in every moment of her life. She gets the most out of every second. I think to me, she just epitomizes passion and commitment and she has such a good heart, such a thoughtful heart. She doesn't forget about anyone, you know? She goes on-set and she asks all the crew guys, you know, 'How's your family?' 'How's everything with you?' She's definitely someone I can't even imagine saying good-bye to."

On Rebecca Budig (Greenlee): "She was one of the first people, when I got there, to take an interest in me. She took me out to dinner; we'd go out to dinner after work and, of course, after September 11th, she let me stay with her in her apartment, which was a huge help 'cause I had nowhere else to go. [Riegel lived near the World Trade Center and had to evacuate her apartment]. I never asked her if I could stay with her; she just pressed the key into my hand and said, 'The only caveat is that you must feel no obligation to leave, ever.' She hooked up a private phone for me in the guest room, put linens on the bed, gave me keys and said, 'Come and go as you please. Stay as long as you want. This is your home.' She's a special girl. I've shared a lot with her. We're at different points in our lives now, I mean, obviously she's married and everything, but I think we have a similar perspective on life. She's very open to new things and very open to change. Just seeing somebody like that is very inspiring."

On Alicia Minshew (Kendall): "Alicia is so wild and so fun and loves life. She is so comfortable in her own skin; she'll tell you anything about herself, stuff that nobody else would share. She lets you in completely. You see every part of her, the stuff that other people hide. She's just such a good friend because she's so capable of love. And you can see it in her work. She just lays herself open. She gives her all; she brings so much of herself to her work."

On Elizabeth Hendrickson (Maggie): "I feel like I've shared with her some of the most personal moments that I've had on the show and I feel ... I feel completely safe with her, like if I fell, she would catch me every time. And she has."

On Cameron Mathison (Ryan): "Cameron, talk about a guy who loves what he does. He's just so in his element on the show. He's doing exactly what he should do and he took a step away and decided that he wanted to come back, and he came back without regret or apologies. He's always been such a wonderful and caring friend."

On Walt Willey (Jack): "Walt and Cameron, too, made a special effort when I first got on the show to make me feel comfortable and beautiful and loved and part of the family here. For me, it was like, 'Wow!' Here were these like big wonderful guys — and handsome, too! — and you know, in a lot of ways they are the show, because they've been there and they were the veterans and knew the ropes and they helped to teach me."

On Michael E. Knight (Tad): "We work in such similar ways because we take acting class together. What inspires me about him is that he never, ever stops working. He takes Pilates and sculpting and comedy classes and painting classes and acting classes and he's never, he's never ever stopping. No matter how much he's accomplished; he always is focused on continuing to grow."