Well Wishes

Please add your thoughts of Laura here.

DEC112018

Excerpt from Temira's "The Gorge Is My Gym"

Journal entry by John Hadley — Dec 11, 2018

Gorge Wind Forecast

I’m heartbroken writing this forecast today. My friend and extreme condition sailing buddy Laura Green died windsurfing on Thursday at Stevenson. Conditions were tame for Laura – it was only blowing 30-35. Her idea of an epic day was a day when it was too windy for everyone else. She wasn’t just an amazing windsurfer and kiter and Tele skier; she was a healer, a forecaster, a dancer, and a light in the world. So sad. This forecast is for her. I wish it contained westerlies at 40-45, because that’s what she would have wanted.

Also from Tamera but on I windsurf forum: One of the most amazing people on this planet. What a beautiful spirit she had. Always up for any sort of adventure, and always with a big smile on her face. As for those conditions being "hazardous", they wouldn't have been for Laura! She was tough as nails, and she loved nuking wind. Such a loss... I'm heartbroken.

DEC102018

Laura's sister Kathy writes a heartfelt obituary.

Journal entry by John Hadley — Dec 10, 2018

The world lost a beautiful spirit on December 6 with the passing of Laura Lynn Green in a windsurfing accident on the Columbia River. Born on October 12, 1958 in Rochester, Minnesota, she was raised in South Bend, Indiana and attended John Adams High School and St. Mary’s College. She moved to Colorado in 1977 to finish her degree at Colorado State University, and spent the last 30 years of her life in Washington, ultimately in Lyle, Washington on the Columbia River Gorge.

Laura was an avid sportswoman, accomplished in kayaking, windsurfing, kite-boarding, and snow skiing. She became an expert in avalanche safety and snow science, and experienced many back-country skiing adventures throughout her life. She skied in Alaska, Canada and Japan, kite-boarded in Australia and Hawaii, kayaked in North and South America, and recently completed her 5th trip through the Grand Canyon, where she celebrated her 60th birthday. She spent many hours kite-boarding and windsurfing near her home in the Columbia River Gorge, and on the Pacific coast of Oregon, and became an expert wind and weather forecaster for the area.

Laura also was a talented musician and dancer, created beautiful art, raised much of her own food, and cared for her animals at the home she shared with her husband, John Hadley. She especially loved her dogs, and fostered several who became her permanent companions. At her massage therapy studio, her gifted hands and feet healed many broken bodies. She was a devoted stepmother to John’s son Kyle and daughter Chelsea.

Laura had a deep love for her family, most of who are in the Midwest. She especially cherished spending time at her parent’s cottage on Birch Lake in southern Michigan, where she learned to waterski and sail. She leaves behind her mother, Barbara Green, her sisters, Sandy (Geoff Lamb) and Kathy (Jim Pawlak), her brother, David (Diana), her nieces and nephews, her twin aunts, Jo Knoop and Su Parshall, and many cousins. Her father, George Richard Green, MD, preceded her in death.

Laura shared these words with her family after her father’s passing last year. “The Great Spirit of God is there to see, in each other’s eyes, and felt through each other’s hearts. May we continue to feel and share these blessings with all beings, compassionate to all as we walk together through life’s changes. Let’s offer our hands and hearts, we can help make a better world. Whatever the question, let love be the answer.” We will try to follow your lead, Laura, but we will miss your guiding light.

DEC92018

My Stepmom, Laura Green

Journal entry by John Hadley — Dec 9, 2018

A contribution from Kyle Hadley

My stepmom, Laura Green, passed away in a windsurfing accident Thursday.

She was a backcountry tele guru, avalanche expert, windsurfer, kiter, whitewater kayaker, husky wrangler extraordinaire, gardener, daughter, sister, wife, stepmom, friend and most true to herself free spirit I may ever know.

She and my dad fell in love windsurfing at Floras Lake when I was 10 years old. I remember the day we met. The wind was howling. They never looked back. She lived fully and unapologetically in the wild. She showed me it was okay to follow entirely what I love.

Bellow is a picture of them after a gnarly storm in the straight of Juan de Fuca in near knock down conditions, in which our tiller delaminated and was torn apart, I was scared half to death and I chose to change our course and sail for shelter in a winter gail for a couple days in Sequim.

She didn't see what the big deal was. She thought they were great conditions.

I ask that those that knew her keep my dad, her family, and close-knit community in their thoughts. She will be missed.

DEC92018

Spruce Tribute to Laura

Journal entry by John Hadley — Dec 9, 2018

Spruce Baughter has created a lovely tribute to Laura. He was first a windsurfing friend a "Ruby" red VW van in Hood River and to Baja each winter.

Deborah Gonzales Cyparski | Dec 14, 2018

It’s been a week since we lost Laura and it still seems impossible that her bright light is gone.

I first knew Laura Green as a fellow windsurfer in the Gorge in the 90’s. We strengthened our connection when I relocated to the coast in the early 2000’s. Although there are numerous accomplished woman sailors in the Gorge, few braved the cold, unruly Pacific. Laura and I found we were kindred spirits through our shared love for the ocean.

When I learned to kitesurf in 2010, Laura was already a rock solid master of the sport. As with all woman she encountered; she encouraged, nurtured and shared her passion for kiting allowing my skills to slowly advance. Through her guidance, we became strong kiting companions able to seize adventures in any conditions and in any location. Laura was always game, whether it was nuking gorge winds, or towering ocean waves . . . forever leading the charge!

It was this love of wind and water that gave us the opportunity to know each other. As we spent time together chasing wind, we bonded in our mutual respect of the natural world and our love of all critters . . . great and small. Laura was an authentic person and taught me much about acceptance of the human condition in all its imperfections. She was not judgmental, understanding that we all have our own path to forge. Her life was a perfect example of live and let live. Her lifestyle choices directly reflected her beliefs and it was this genuineness that I most admired about this truly vibrant woman.

Laura was one of a kind. Losing her has left our small Gorge community with a huge hole at its heart . . . I will miss her, always . . . I will honor her by trying to live more like her, every day.

Stuart Hill | Dec 14, 2018

I've lost a good friend and co-worker with the passing of Laura Green. A steadfast and honored 20+ year member of the Mt Hood Meadows Professional Ski Patrol, I always looked forward to crossing paths with her during my weekly night shifts. There was always something interesting to talk about with her whether it be a malfunctioning mountain weather station instrument, an upcoming snow-kiting trip, how her dogs were doing or a huge slide in the canyon.

In a world of increasing self-absorbed individuals, Laura was a breath of fresh air. She was always focused on how she could fit into a team by quietly analyzing the situation, then pitching in to help out. If she told you she was going to be somewhere - she was there. If she committed to a project / task, it got done. No fanfare, no drama, no shenanigans - she was a lady you could really depend upon. It's a quality that I aspire to one day have, I've got a ways to go...

An expert on snow, in the waves or rolling thru heavy-duty whitewater - we lost a true hero to the mighty Columbia River. I take some solace in knowing that Laura was doing something she truly loved with a passion when she died. It was an honor to have known her - she won't be forgotten.

Bill Glude, | Dec 14, 2018

Hi again John,

I just got the Caring Bridge note, with your more-current e-mail. I still can’t really believe someone as competent, careful, and full of life and energy as her can be gone; she still lives in my memory and she has been so solid and so reliable a presence that I’ll really miss that constant sense of calm thoughtfulness when there are tough decisions to be made. I was already talking with coworkers this fall about having her as part of the core team for our next industrial avalanche project, in a couple years, if she could come help.

I am nowhere near as hard-core as her, but we both are often the only ones out on the water in the most violent of storms or coldest of days in our spots; loving the wind, the waves, the scudding birds, the symphony of water and wind. I have often had the wind knocked out of me, slammed into and broken a mast, boom, or sail; had the board blow 10 meters downwind before I surfaced, and continue to flip downwind on every wave crest as I swam after it as fast as I could. We have all been there, so it is very much “there bur for the grace…”; a reminder to always be sure there is a friendly downwind shore not too far away, that someone on the water or on the beach has an eye out. Even the most careful, the most skilled among us can still be lost in an instant.

Laura was also one of those friends who did double duty one of my heroes, an inspiration; and really you are right that trying to live life as fully and intentionally as she did is the best way to honor her. And to do it now, while we still dance on this earth!

I tried to reach her from Portland airport while waiting for the next flight on the way to ISSW, and am glad I caught up with her on the phone after my return from Innsbruck!

I don’t think either of you are on Facebook, but here’s what I wrote there about her; it fits as a quick summary of the Laura I know:

"My dear and longtime friend Laura Green was killed windsurfing in her backyard, in the Columbia Gorge, this last weekend. She was someone I trusted and adored deeply as friend and coworker; fellow spirit of water and snow, mountains, sea, and rivers; part of my extended family. Skier, avalanche forecaster, organic gardener, windsurfer, kiter, kayaker, mountain biker. Lover of animals, mom to a herd of the best of unemployed sled dogs, and all-around wonderful human! Would that we could all live half as well as her!

I think the last line says it well; I was just this week passing on things I learned from her to friends here in Japan!

I can’t access the first 7 years of non-digital photos that are in slide boxes at home in Alaska, but I attached the digital ones, which I have on archive drives I travel with. There are only a couple of you guys together, but I had a bunch of her at work in Alaska, and at the ISSW there too. I was going to upload them to the Caring Bridge site, but can’t find a way to do that; maybe you can. All can be shared.

My friends keep coming to me, and I find too that I keep describing you to them, as the life you two built was a mutual and wonderful creation. I always end up saying, yeah Laura had the best partner imaginable! John is this marvelous guy; the shop teacher we all wished we had in high school; the one who teaches the kids to make not only surfboards and kiteboards, but their own beautiful skis and snowboards! Wild swing dancer, joyous, patient; can work wood, iron, ancient crafts, or composites. Skilled windsurfer, kiter, surfer, mountain biker, skier. And I describe your little farm and the garden, the bed out on the porch. And the community of great people I have met through you both.

You guys truly are part of my extended, chosen family; and you always are! You are most welcome here in Japan, or in Alaska, any time! Let me know if there is anything I can do. It’s hard to be there from the other side of the world in Japan, but the beauty of all the electronics we have now is that we can be in close touch from far places.

Many hugs to you; and much love. I just laid out the splitboard gear for tomorrow; first day of the season. I can get the boots on now without too much pain from a recent biking injury; the snow is finally here and I will carry a little bit of her grace on snow with me as I do the early season powder dance. We all carry those things little she gave us; I don’t believe we will ever lose them; and in those things she lives on in all of us, her friends!

Thanks to her; thanks to you!

Pat Tompkins | Dec 13, 2018

Hi John; I just talked to your mom tonight. Im so sorry to hear about Laura....so very sorry!! My heart goes out to you & everyone that loved her!!

Love, Patti

Lynn Crowe | Dec 13, 2018

Beautiful soul. She loved and lived life as we all should. Making the most of everything. I will treasure forever that I was fortunate enough to know her, spend time with her and learn her beautiful ways. The gift of you, that you left to all will forever be in each of our hearts.

John Grim | Dec 13, 2018

John. Please let me know if you need any help around your place or anything at all. I'm glad I met Laura and had so many windsurfing sessions with her over the last 20 years. She was always an inspiration to me and honestly I envied the way she lived her life. Paul, Linda and I are all in shock and will miss one of the founding members of Teamstupid (Sail Till U Puke), which is what happened to each of us when we tried to keep up with Laura:) I am comforted by the fact that Laura lived life way more than most people in her short 60 years. I would have to live two life times to match her. Best to you amigo.

Yvette Blanchette | Dec 13, 2018

Dearest John,

I trust you are surrounded with love—by those who can offer you some support in the wake of y/our loss.

As I reflect upon the life of our dear friend, Laura, memories bob to the surface. I find myself flowing gently between alternating waves of grief and gratitude. Without fail the sorrow is almost immediately followed, almost cancelled out, by an even bigger wave of pure gratitude for joys shared together: skiing on good storm days, dancing on new years eve, silly halloween parties at my house, and many, many gatherings with mutual friends.

My friendship with Laura continued to evolve over the years; it matured in love and respect. The more I think of her, the more in awe I am of this incredible human. We remember her free spirit, physical agility. Laura was the perfect combination of selfish/selfless: in that she was true to herself, always followed her bliss; but she never spoke a malicious word, and was a tender healer—the strongest, kindest sort of woman. She was humble, gentle, compassionate, sincere, intuitive...she lived with integrity, and loved unconditionally. I don’t think i ever heard her complain about anything. And I don’t believe it was about being stoic; she appeared rather content to me, comfortable in her own skin. Laura remains an inspiration; as I aspire to become a more gracious version of my own self.

John, holding you in my thoughts here in Sierra Leone. Please take care of yourself, and allow our beautiful community to care for you. Best—Yvette

Sarah Brooks | Dec 11, 2018

John, - I am so sad to hear of Laura's passing. Keeping her, and you, and your families and close friends in my prayers. It seems like yesterday when we'd dance the 5Rhythms at the Grange.. when you first both learned about ecstatic dance back in 2001! I loved Laura's smile and zest for life. I discovered she was just 4 days older than me 10/12, as I was born on 10/16/58..!! Warm hug and blessings... this must be a very difficult time for you.. Holding you in support and friendship.. Best, Sarah Brooks in Portland

Donald Crowe | Dec 11, 2018

I put together a small tribute...

https://youtu.be/Siok80Q3A2E

Donald Crowe (EWE - Laura = never quite the same)

Marion McNew | Dec 11, 2018

Being part of the Salsa and dance community, I had numerous opportunities to enjoy Laura's exuberant spirit and superb dancing skills. She was always positive, kind and considerate. It still seems completely unreal she will not be with us anymore. My heart goes out to John. Both such incredible and admirable spirits. The photo was taken at a 2013 Halloween party. So many fun times to remember. You will be deeply missed, Laura.

Kathy Green | Dec 11, 2018

What does it mean to live like Laura? Be active, be healthy, care for the environment, care for animals, care for each other, care for yourself. If I can try to do those things every day, I will honor her and feel her presence. I love you, Laura.

Mike Gundlach | Dec 11, 2018

Laura,

While my heart is heavy, I am buoyed by memories of the joy of dancing with you. Your ease and grace on the dance floor was always something that made me smile. You had an uncanny way of making a so-so lead like myself look like I knew what I was doing ;) You never turned down an opportunity to dance with life, whether that was on the dance floor, in the mountains or on the water. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to know you and spend quality time together. Thank you for being such a positive light in the world!

May your spirit continue to dance!

Sandy Green | Dec 10, 2018

On December 6th, a bright light in many lives went out when our beloved sister Laura died in a windsurfing accident. She was known to many as the ultimate sportswoman - doing avalanche science and forecasting, kayaking, kite sailing, windsurfing, and skiing the steep and deep tree runs whenever they could be found. She was also a very tender, loving and empathetic soul, caring for her parents, her immediate and extended family and friends, and her beloved pets.

Her loss leaves a hole in many hearts. Life is precious and short. We all need to remember to appreciate each and every day we have, and let those around us know how much we love them. That's what Laura did.

And please do a dance for Laura!

Ruth Olin | Dec 10, 2018

Eric Einhorn | Dec 10, 2018

To John, the Gorge dance and sports communities, and Laura's family and friends:

My heart and thoughts are on Laura and with you all. Though apart, I grieve with you. Hug each other for me.

Ilysa Parker | Dec 10, 2018

My heart goes out to John and all of Laura's family and friends. She was an exceptional person. I will miss pulling up to the beach and seeing her to say "are you windsurfing or kiting?" Or at the underwood bridge, "are you foiling or kiting?" For her it was which she would do first. She wasn't one to miss out on any fun. When my husband, Este, would join Laura and John for a kayaking day, I would always feel reassured he was with other competent boaters. It always felt good to be in her presence. Her inspiration and love will continue.

Erin Burnham | Dec 10, 2018

Sending love to you John, and to all of Laura's family and friends. Like you all, I am heartbroken that Laura died windsurfing. She was such a go for it girl. She went out all year in the most challenging conditions, even in the coldest months. Always had such a positive attitude and a huge smile on her face. I can't even count all the amazing days we spent together windsurfing & kiting,.. a few runs on the mountain, evenings dancing... over the past 20 years or so. But you never know what will end it. Could have been hit by a drunk driver or someone texting on the way to the beach... I think that if I died tomorrow kiting or windsurfing or skiing or mountain biking, it would still be worth it. Better than not having gone on all those adventures and shared so much joy with my friends. I think that Laura would have felt the same. Live Like Laura!

Caroline & Brad Roberts | Dec 10, 2018

Dearest John, We were so saddened to hear of Laura's passing. Although, we didn't share a lot of time with her, it was always when we could see her happy, radiant spirit dancing & sailing. Your deep love for each other was also visible and palpable. Please know our thoughts & love & hugs go out to you & yours & hers... XOXO

Sean Occonnor | Dec 9, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrL65imhP72/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1o8il2bwz5809

Carola Stepper | Dec 9, 2018

I'd like to share a video which may be helpful. It is 4 min and 15 sec: "The grieving process: Coping with Death"