I count Susan as one of my close online buddies.
We often exchanged private emails and public stories of our dogs.
When she was in Sand Point – how ever did she end up there but by the deep graciousness of a woman born to help others – I taped cooking shows for her.
It was easy for me to leave a tape in, program the VCR to PBS, and visit the post office a couple of times a month. But Susan decided it was some sort of heroic feat and sent me a book on the Aurora Borealis and a lovely piece of fossilized coral to me in return.
This past Christmas, she
sent my pooch two big bags of Wild Alaskan Salmon dog treats (and I
must say that Percy [right] thought them quite delectable).
So that’s a sampling of my interactions with Susan. It does not, however, even begin to describe how I came to know her as a human.
Susan was warm and caring and thoughtful and kind. We who have pets
understand her a little better when we think of how she rescued boxers
– four of them over the recent years. Boxers are big dogs who take a
lot of exercise; for a woman with very little free time to dedicate
those precious hours to the welfare of her dogs tells you a lot about
her.
At work and at home she devoted herself to making other lives better. She sacrificed time and time again to improve the condition of those around her. It often took her to places that weren’t good for her as “Nurse Nightmare” and the crazy vine lady proved. Still, she made choices based on what she thought she needed to do to make this world a better place: live in remote areas of Alaska delivering much needed healthcare for a fraction of what she could have made in San Francisco.
I almost made a trip up to Haines to visit this summer but postponed it to next year. We had talked about my spending a month or two there to work in quiet solitude while on sabbatical next fall.
I am going to miss her. The world needs more people like her.
Carolyn (baermer)
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