Memories of Lorin
Submitted by Jess Braunstein
OK, so is it wrong that when I think of Lorin the story that always seems to come to mind is when she got hit by a car?? It sounds like it should be an awful story, but, in true Maurer fashion, the girl got cleaned up, stapled, up, and apologized to Beth for not calling her when she wasn't able to meet her for the Orange and Blue game (we all know how Lorin hated to be late and/or miss something without letting someone know). I know that this is Beth's story to share (and she'd do a much better job - especially b/c mine are long-winded and off-track like Lorin's, so I'll let her do that if she chooses), but it was just too much...and I'm the one that had to wipe her down in some unsavory places (road burn on the bum!!), so I get a little credit too! No matter what, that girl always cracked me up!
And for everyone who knows how much Maurer LOVED to dance (and spent some time in Gainesville yourself)...one word...ROTATOR!! Those were some awfully fantastic, disgustingly sweaty nights!! We're talking change of clothes for the ride home...they just don't make music like they did in the 80's anymore. Ahhhhh...memories :)
Submitted by Molly Hoke
I was a volunteer with Lorin in the Junior League of Greater Princeton, and she was always there to lend a helping hand but she was a heck of a lot of fun too!! We discovered at our Kick Off party in Feb 2008 in which we hired a Karoke DJ- that once Lorin got in front of the microphone it was very difficult to get her away...:) I am not sure what her favorite song was to sing, but you could tell she really loved it. Perhaps a future stint on "American Idol" was in the cards!
Submitted by Beth Cianfrone
Here's a couple funny images of Maurer from our time during our masters program at UF:
Submitted by Kosh Ciaffone
Most of my memories are from when Lorin was little. She was my 1st niece and I was only 12. Once when I babysat her while her mom was in the hospital having Chris, she scared the crap out of me crying and screaming when we were outside in the yard. I thought she got stung by a bee or something but she just had some dirt on her hands. (clean freak even then-she also wore dresses everyday to play outside)
My kids have lots of fun memories too. Lorin would call us up out of the blue and drive over from Princeton just because she was bored. They always kept her busy though-from painting flower pots to playing sing star & dance dance revolution to going to the mall, doing a cystic fibrosis walk, and even watching them play in the sprinkler and on the water slide (she so badly wanted to get on but didn't have her suit and was going out to dinner right from our house)
Submitted by Kathleen Takemoto
I swam with Lorin at Rowan... My two favorite memories are:
1. While stayinng overnight at an away swim meet, Tony Lisa called Lorin and the other captains out of their rooms at 1:00 am because they had to "identify" the male swimmer who decided to run butt naked down the hall. Lorin told the rest of us the story and said that she couldn't stop blushing the whole time.
2. My freshman year we swam NYU and Mr. and Mrs. Maurer (who never missed a meet) came out on the town with us to see Blue Man Group that night. One male swimmer (not the same as the previous story) got so drunk that he had to pee while on the swimming bus. Unfortunately he was sitting next to Lorin, Mr. & Mrs. Maurer when he decided to pee right there into a gatorade bottle. Lorin tried to talk to her parents and distract them... Not sure if they saw it or not but another good example of talking out of an embarassing situation!
Submitted by Kathleen Molnar
My classic Lorin story is the first time she came to my house. She asked to use the bathroom and i showed it to her but ran in to grab some floss or something. She followed me in, pulled down her pants and started peeing, the whole time continuing our conversation until i realized what was going on and excused myself.
There are also a ton of stories about our Philly restaurant adventures.
Submitted by Arthur Hightower
As you know, as NCAA staffers we were able to travel to a lot of places for work and “play” thanks to Dallas Pride and her Leadership Conferences. On this occasion, our city to work and “play” was Dallas, Texas, and it was someone’s birthday weekend (I cannot remember who). We are definitely kicking it after work to celebrate.
After a long day working in Bobby Darnell’s “hometown”, we go looking for a place to hang out. For some reason, Mr. Darnell is not familiar anymore with his “hometown” which leads us to drive all around Frisco, Plano, Irving, McKinney, Grand Prairie, DeSoto, Mesquite, and oh finally Dallas – “I swear there use to be a place here”. Ok Bobby, we believe you.
Due to the large number of people that wanted to go out, we are driving in a 12 passenger van similar to converted ice cream truck that you see driving around with over priced treats or the local church van that is driving around to pick up Sunday worshippers. After 2-3 hours of countless driving and a fill up on gas, as the driver of the van I make a decision to stop at the next place that we hear advertised on the radio station we are listening to – no questions asked. So we did. It just so happen that this place was well…… not in the most established area….but the music was good, right Monica Lebron!
Here we are rolling to club in a 12 passenger van looking to park in VIP because none of the regular car slots would fit the van….hahahahahaa.
RULE #1 and the GOLDEN RULE WHEN VISITING A CLUB THAT YOU ARE AN OUT-OF-TOWNER– Never let ‘em know you are not from around the area. No matter how you are dressed, looking, or talk – or (gulp) driving.
After a short exchange of using my “urban code shifting vernacular” with the valets (and $20), we get a prime parking spot. As we enter the club (nice club once inside), we kindly remind ourselves of RULE #1. “REMEMBER RULE #1. Everyone got it. You got it Lorin. Okay, let’s do this”. Why did I have to specifically express RULE # 1 to Lorin that evening…..let’s just say that she was lacking pigmentation and we will leave it at that.
The music is jumping; the crowd is at a tizzy. The Lakers are in the house after whopping up on the Mavs. This is the spot! YIPPEE (did I really just type that – that is not “urban code shifting vernacular”)
We stay close by, but spread out through the club to dance and have fun.
After about 20 minutes or so, Moni and Lorin come to find me. There’s a problem. What is it? Lorin almost got into a fight. Huh? Lorin, you? Are you serious? Yeah, says Moni. What happened? Lorin responds, “well, as we were leaving the bathroom I let these girls know that their T-backs were showing and they needed to pull up their jeans”. Their what? T-backs. What is a t-back? Oh, you mean their thongs! This was when Sisqo was still popular with the “Thong Song”. Um, Lorin…. they intended their “T-backs” to show from under their low rise jeans that cannot be pulled up more.
Now, here come 3 girls (one of the girls is the only other girl in the club lacking “pigmentation” that night, and Lorin has to pick a bone with her) eyeing Moni and Lorin something fierce. Some words get exchange from under their breath as they pass.
Let’s get back to partying. Remember, RULE #1 Lorin! Go have fun and stay out of trouble and……..more importantly, stay out of the bathroom!
Another 20 minutes pass by. Where is Lorin?
Moni can’t find her. Dallas can’t find her. Bobby can’t find her. Oh no, the 3 girls must of caught her alone! All of a sudden between the DJ spinning the tunes, there is a voice. “I want to give a birthday shout out to…..”
Ms. Lorin decides to make friends (which is something that she could always easily do) with the DJ and gets on the mic to give a birthday shout-out! She then goes on to introduce us to the ENTIRE club. Tell them that we’re from Indianapolis and we are in town for the Division III Student-Athlete Leadership Conference and we are staying at the Westin in Frisco. I am pretty sure that is what the patrons of the club wanted to hear. There goes the GOLDEN RULE!
We have fun the rest of the evening. The DJ takes care of us by spinning songs we want to hear, and giving the ladies in our “traveling party” access to his booth to scan over the entire club. We stay until the club closes. The valet goes to get the keys to the van and hands them to me and says, “tell Indy White that she is welcome anytime”. I always get a laugh out of that. So my new rule is:
THE NEW RULE #1 and the GOLDEN RULE WHEN VISITING A CLUB THAT YOU ARE AN OUT-OF-TOWNER– Always let the DJ in the club know who you are, and make sure you leave a lasting impression! HAHAHAHA
Submitted by Jamey Zaninovich
I have but two words to add ...Flat Renata! I still have nightmares about that little frickin’ tag-a-long on a tongue depressor. There was not a more dedicated Flat Renata “toter” in history than one Lorin Maurer. It seemed she had that thing for a month and it met (and took pictures with, of course) more Princeton fans, employees, coaches, parents and community members than I did in my 5 years in Princeton. But, that makes sense considering it was Lorin and Flat Renata got to meet all of the “FOL’s” (i.e. Friends of Lorin’s).
Just another example of how Lorin, no matter what the circumstances, could bring a smile to all of our faces.
Submitted by Carlee Ciaffone
Every year, my family does a walk for my cousin Vikki because she has Cystic Fibrosis. A couple years ago, Lorin was at our house so she was going to do the walk with us. This was too easy for Lorin. Of course. Lorin decided to RUN the 6 miles. We walked together the first 1/2 mile, laughing the whole time until it was time for her to take off...
By the time i was at the third mile, she was running up behind me. After scaring me half to death, she explained that she had LONG been done and she was running it a second time! Me, looking up to her like always, decided to run with her. So after about a 1/2 mile of that, I told her to keep going and I would met her at the end. She then told me "nahh, I've ran enough" and walked we walked the last mile back together:)
Submitted by Kristen Johnson
While I only knew Lorin a few shorts months (I met her in November at a Butler basketball game, my husband coaches with Kevin), what everyone has said about her is completely true...Lorin never met a stranger. Her smile and warm nature assured me that I would really like this girl. It couldn't have been more true!
I always looked forward to when Lorin would come in town to see Kevin, because that meant we got to sit together at the games. We shared many of the same sentiments about sports in general. Specifically that a true fan should NOT leave a game early no matter if the team is winning by a large margin or losing. Now everytime that I see a fan leave their seat early (even with .1 second on the clock) I smile and think of Lorin and what she would say.
Lorin and Kev introduced me to the newest and hippest bar in B.Ripple...Brothers. We met them out for Lorin's 30th birthday this past December. The bar flooded (literally), the drinks were flowing and Lorin's smils was never-ending. She was so excited to go out (I heard that I missed some crazy bull riding at Buck Wild later in the night).
Submitted by Emily McLaughlin
Lorin and I both moved to Sinking Spring the same year and instantly became friends (she was even good at making friends at a very young age). Yes, we were the new girls in elementary school AND we were both a little nerdy (OK, I was really a geek). I remember sitting with Lorin in Mrs. Cook's spelling class and I was so envious of Lorin's spelling prowess! Most of her spelling tests were just about flawless. My jealousy finally faded when I learned that she was the first of my friends to be able to spell my last name (McLaughlin) - capital 'L' and all. What a great buddy to have in second grade :)
OK, so she could spell my name... she was a smarty pants. What I love about Lorin most (and will miss most too) is that no matter how many years had gone by when we hadn't seen each other or even been in contact, we could get together and it was as if neither of us "missed a beat."
Submitted by Treva Nolen
I know without a shadow of a doubt that God sent Lorin to me to help me through a very difficult time in my life. In April of 2007 my husband and I moved to Princeton from Columbus, Georgia for his job. The transition was very difficult for me and I found myself sleeping in one weekday morning feeling sorry for myself and then my phone rings. It was Lorin calling to welcome me to the Junior League. We talked on the phone for an hour and she invited me to eat dinner with her and Pam, a friend from the League who was from Birmingham, Alabama. I was so excited! Her phone call that day gave me a reason to get up and stop feeling depressed. I went to dinner with Lorin and Pam that night and we all became very close friends from then on.
I called Lorin my little connector. She was always introducing people and wanted to make everyone feel special and accepted. Lorin introduced me to everyone I knew in Princeton, she helped me get a job, and she also invited me to dinner so many times when my husband was out of town (because she knew I didn't have family or many friends there). When my daughter was born 6 weeks early and was in the special care nursery for two weeks, she offered several times to come up to the hospital to sit with me. She was an awesome person who will be missed by so many!
Submitted by Bobby Darnell
Annually in Indy there is the Black Expo that we decided to engulf ourselves in. It was a week of activities and festivities (which is fancy talk for PARTIES!!) starting on Monday night. I was very proud of my role in Lorin's life at this time. I was Lorin's "Urbanization Consultant" if you will. So, one of the rare times that the 11 of us weren't together, Cicely, Lorin, and I decided to hit up a club I think on a Tuesday night, sponsored by Phat Farm. So we were in Lotus and Russell Simmons is there and he gives us his autograph and some free Phat Farm shoes. Sweet. We walk around...dance around...and apparently I am bad at drifting away from a group...but when i finally get back to the girls I am immediately told of an incident involving Lorin and the dance floor...imagine that. Well, as the story is told, Lorin is having a good time, dancing by herself, enjoying herself, and soaking up the unfamiliar atmosphere. A bump or push occurs somehow and someone yells out "white B#$%@!" So I ask what she said in return...and she tells me that she pretended she didn't hear it and kept on dancing. Does this phase Lorin in anyway? Hell no. That becomes the joke of the night and year and a new acronym was born.
Submitted by Nicole Mancino
So, I knew Lorin from Rowan. We met freshmen year and lived on the same hallway sophomore year as part of a big group of girls and was one of my favorite people my four years there. When we both went off to graduate school I lost touch, but I'm so grateful I tracked her down and reconnected a bit this summer.
Anyway, one memory that sticks out as being typical Lorin is the time we decided we needed ice cream. There was nothing adequate in the dining halls, so we trekked off campus in search of something decent. Lorin bought the biggest take-out bowl I have ever seen in my life, and, uncharacteristically, couldn't finish it.
We were just walking back to campus via the athletics field and she decided she didn't want anymore...and so she decided to leave her bowl in a shady area on the edge of the field which connected to the small college town of Glassboro.....in case some homeless person happened to walk by and wanted some ice cream.
I probably don't have to tell you that the homeless population in Glassboro, New Jersey, wasn't exactly rampant. and we both laughed ourselves into hysterics as she found a good spot for her leftovers.
I don't know if the ice-cream was found by anyone - homeless or not - but I've always been struck by the fact that Lorin had such a giving heart - she's been an inspiration to me and a great friend.
Submitted by Marie Muhvic
Lorin, Rob, and I decided to go to a tree farm to pick out the ‘perfect’ Christmas tree. I had never gone to cut down a tree before, and as such hadn’t even a remote idea of what to wear. Therefore, I decided to sport my new, trendy white coat. Lo-Mo couldn’t believe I would wear a white coat and proceeded to make jokes all day. After all, she said, “Who wears a white coat to a tree farm?” The coat became the center of many jokes to come….”Who wears a white coat to a hockey game?”; “Who wears a white coat in the month of January”? Lo-Mo got a lot of mileage out of this one. The thing that sticks out the most from that day is how little Lo-Mo was the feisty one whose determination to find the best tree was unfailing. She made Rob and I walk all 10 acres with her so that we ‘didn’t miss a good one’. She wanted to see ALL the options before choosing. She would tell me to stand by a tree while she looked at others, so we could remember where that one was (she could find me she said, by the white coat).
When I first arrived in Princeton, I didn’t even know what the Coach brand was (I am from a farming community in Wisconsin) …Lo-Mo was not impressed. She and Kellie bought me a Coach wallet for my Birthday, because Lo-Mo was appalled that I had never owned one. She insisted I could afford one by saving money each month and shopping at the outlets. On February 11, 2009, I received a package from my aunt, She had sent me a brand new Coach purse, She wrote a note telling me to show my friend Lorin that I now was a proud owner of a Coach purse. On Febraury 12, 2009, I proudly brought my new purse to the Coaches meeting, to show Lorin. She was in a hurry that day, because she needed to get many tasks done before leaving for the weekend. Therefore, I never got to show Lo-Mo the purse, but it would have made her very happy to know I had finally succumbed to the brand name…how Princeton!
Christmas Party 2008
This night was one of my favorites in Princeton. Lorin and Rob hosted a Christmas party in their apartment on Harrison Street. Of course, the tree that the three of us cut down was in all of its glory that night…purple decorations were hung from every branch. Lorin had on a festive red shirt and seemed extra exuberant this evening…as she loved a good party and even more she loved to host one. I remember how impressed I was with her efforts that went into planning the party. We had food and drinks (Pinot Noir of course), but the best were the games we played. Lorin had organized games and photocopied them at work…she also had sharpened pencils, and of course her standard watch that she used to time us. Since she already saw the games and knew the answers, she did not play because she was fair as always, but rather was the administrator. I remember how much fun we had comparing answers and seeing who got the most points. Lorin had prizes for the winners under the tree (each individually wrapped), but at the end of the night, she gave all of us a prize…yes even the losers! I remember watching her that night so full of happiness and smiling from ear to ear, thinking ‘what a great mom she will be’. If she gets that into organizing and planning so that her friends have fun, she will be the most loving parent ever. I know that is hard to think about, I so vividly remember thinking that, so I wanted to share….
Dancing, 2008
One night before Christmas break, Lorin, Kelly, Ben, and I went out to New Brunswick to dance. First, we of course had wine and tappas and then ventured out. There aren’t any funny or dramatic things that happened this particular evening, but I just remember how happy and free Lorin looked out on the dance floor. We all had a blast, and for some reason, when I think about her, I can still see her on this night in my mind (the green top and ‘going out jeans that are really hard to find’ that she was wearing, the pink martini she got at the Irish bar, and all of us laughing non-stop on the car ride home).
Albany
One of the first weekends I was in Princeton, Lorin asked if I would like to go to Albany to help out with a Friends of Hockey event for the ECAC play-offs. This was the first weekend I got to know Lorin, and the one where we immediately became friends. I remember being so impressed with her and her organizational skills. She had maps printed out, gas mileage down to a tee, directions to the hotel, and healthy snacks packed (granola and fruit pieces cut up).
The night after the first game, we ventured out to a local pub and dance place. On one floor they played all 80’s music and I vividly remember Lorin smiling and singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ when it came on. Another thing that stuck out to me was we were out extremely late, but did that stop her from waking up at 7:00 a.m. and running??? Of course not!
The next evening, when Princeton played, there was a private club at the arena with food and drinks for VIP’s. Of course Lorin knew someone, and we were able to get in…I didn’t even have a ticket for the game- but details like that don’t matter when you are with Lorin.
The ride home she and I were so tired and delirious…we laughed, talked, and texted each other (Scottie was driving) the entire way. After that weekend, we were instant friends!
The last time
The last time I saw Lorin was on February 12th, 2009. We had an Athletic Department meeting that day. I remember how excited she was to be going to see Kevin. She had been telling Kellie and I for months that she better get invited to be his date on Valentines weekend for the wedding! She had also been shopping and obsessing over dresses to wear (too cold for short sleeves but too hard to find a cute long-sleeved dress she would say). Again, I will always regret not stopping her on her way out of that meeting to say good-bye, but she was so happy and excited to leave, I didn’t want to slow her down. As hard as it is to think about, it is good to at least know how excited and happy she was to be on her way….
Submitted by Scott and Terry Maurer
As Lorin was growing up she loved chewing gum. Whenever we were at a grocery store or at the mall and she would see a gumball machine and would say "Dad can I have a quarter for a gumball? Can you even imagine how many quarters we fed into gumball machines??
So when Lorin went off to college and we thought of the perfect Christmas gift - A GUMBALL MACHINE! We knew she wouldn't want to spend her own quarters for gumballs. The smile on Lorin's face when she opened the gift was perfect. This gumball machine was the same kind at the malls and grocery stores needing a quarter for a gumball.
Lorin, the giving person as she was, wanted to share the gumballs with her friends, so she certainly couldn't make them pay a quarter for one. She kept the key in the lock at the top of the machine, so everyone could unlock it, and choose their favorite color and at no charge. The gumball machine now has its permanent location at Princeton University (I believe in Marie Muhvic or Kellie Staples office) So, if you want to have a LoMo Day, stop by and have a GUMBALL.
Did You Know?
Lorin was a coach of a 7 and under boy's basketball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Please Help!
In the wake of the tragic plane crash that took Lorin's life along with 50 others, we have been heavily campaigning for our government and the aviation industry to improve their safety practices. For more information on our efforts to improve aviation safety and to find out how you can help, please visit www.3407memorial.com