Tanya Demarsh-Dodson, good friend

Today we all came to show our respect for Surain and we are lucky enough to be learning more about her from the people we may have only heard about and not met. We have listened to those who knew her as a wife and companion, those who knew her as a brother or sister, and those who knew here as a co-worker or a team member. I shall add to this chorus speaking as a friend, one among the many she has had. When I am finished I shall be inviting those among us who wish to share some short anecdote or some memory to come take the microphone. Additionally I would like everyone to be aware that at the reception Elaine Eigeman will be collecting stories or comments, or whatever people would like to contribute to a scrapbook in honor of Surain. If you cannot be there you can e-mail her or Robert whatever it is you want included.

--Surain was a woman with a strong family center, raised in a neighborhood on the shores of Puget Sound. She loved the Pacific Northwest, the water and the mountains. She was also considerate enough to introduce and share her family with her friends and we are all lucky she did. Her family shares her warmth, her strong sense of commitment, her coherent and practiced sense of ethics, and her willingness to have fun… she has a wonderful family.

-- She was curious, enthusiastic, willing to share, and giving of love, thus able to meet the challenge of an ever-evolving relationship. I saw her do with Robert things she might never have attempted herself, and I watched how her presence in those circumstances brought joy to the moment and the evolution of their lives together.

--She was a woman with a sense of wonder about the natural world and delighted in learning about the beings inhabiting it. From hikes in the Cascades or Nepal or the North of Sweden; from kayaking in Baja California, the Everglades, the Queen Charlottes, and the islands of the Pacific; from mushroom picking; from cross country skiing in Canada, the Cascades, and Sweden; and from numerous other activities she gained an ever increasing understanding of the interdependence of all living things-- the web of life.

-- I watched Surain use her strength to define her own path in her work life, and pursue work which she felt would benefit this world and all beings which inhabit it. She had the capabilities required to organize and appreciated the power of computers in maintaining organization, she was able generate sound, informative fiscal information, and to communicate, and thus she contribute to the development of an organization. Working at the Nature Conservancy she achieved her goals, and helped to make a difference in humankind’s treatment of this beautiful habitat we call earth.

--Surain was curious about the many different ways people live. She had the wisdom to realize how wonderful it is there are so many paths to accomplish a single task like cooking dinner, making clothing, or creating shade. She had the wisdom too to understand and appreciate people who live their lives in unfamiliar ways. She could quickly appreciate kindness in the character of a person, even when unable to speak their language.

--Surain had a beautiful voice, loved to sing, and brought joy to moments with song. She would sing along with the classic oldies of the 50's. Her good friend Elizabeth Berg remembers singing with her in the car to “Love Potion Number 9" and other songs. Often Surain and I would sing songs we had both learned in childhood while kayaking. She appreciated music and song inspired by a diversity of muses: Haydn, Mozart, Indian music classical and popular, folk songs and tunes of South America, France, Sweden, the USA to mention a few...

–Surain took self-education to the highest level. She had plenty of formal education, but because she loved to figure things out she never stopped learning.

-- In Surain’s spirit, let us use the way she lived and died as an inspiration to live life well.