Lauren Woodall Roady
October 20, 1985- December 8, 2012
As we approach the anniversary of her death with heavy hearts, let's do our best to think of Lauren and smile. We will always hold her close to our hearts and remember her for being a thoughtful friend, devoted teammate, and spirited competitor. The challenge, as time passes, will be to preserve the little memories of Lauren: the laughs we shared, the conversations we had, the things in everyday life that remind us of her.
In that spirit, we are collecting and sharing memories of Lauren. Her teammates have posted a few memories below. Feel free to post more in the comments. It can be anything, no matter how seemingly random, silly, or simple. It will be there to remind us of the moments that made Lauren who she was, to preserve the memories that might otherwise slip away, and, above all, to allow us to collectively look back on our time with Lauren with a smile.
*****
- At clubs, she told us that she was having trouble figuring out what her parents wanted for Christmas because they were always together -- so she could never get one parent alone to ask what the other parent wanted.
- I also liked how diligent she was and how she was so good about eating healthy and getting enough sleep. When we were in Lexington, Lindsay and I would stay up late watching house hunters and law and order SVU, but she would take her hearing aids out before 10 pm and fall asleep immediately -- she told us that the nice thing about needing hearing aids is that when you take them out, nothing can wake you up.
- Lauren was passionate about food and eating as local/organic as possible. She went to the farmer’s market every weekend to get the best meat, fruit, and veggies for the week and always talked about the latest recipes she was making- I remember she was particularly excited about a thai peanut soup she made when it started getting colder. I admired her patience to make trickier, more time-intensive recipes, like the bread she baked every Sunday. She also had the best restaurant recommendations- I have had many a good meal, thanks to her!
- She told me that, while her honeymoon was incredible, the best day of her life was her wedding day because she and Peter were surrounded by such an amazing group of family and friends.
- I remember one rainy day before practice a group of us girls popped into BCC to use the restroom. The grumpy janitor started to yell at us from down the hall but Lauren charged bravely ahead and we all followed her into the bathroom. Later, when someone mentioned how mean and irrational the janitor had been, Lauren shrugged, laughed, and said since she wasn’t wearing her hearing aids that day she hadn’t even noticed him.
- Lauren loved nothing more than a good book and a fire in the fireplace. She mentioned on several occasions that one of her favorite places in the world was in the library in her childhood home, in front of the fire, with a book. Last November, she and Peter spent the night at a bed and breakfast in Virginia (a wedding gift) and they spent hours Sunday morning in front of a fire, reading the NY Times. That, to Lauren, was perfection.
- Lauren always used to cook on Sundays. She told me about how much food she would make for the week. It sounded incredible! I remember thinking I could never be that organized or have so much talent in the kitchen.
- In one of Coach Jerry’s infamous tempo/long run workouts, I lead the second-to-last mile and she was on tap to lead the final mile. We came through on pace, but very tired. Still, Lauren took off like a shot and I struggled to maintain contact. When I glanced at my watch 200 meters into her lead, I noticed we were at least five seconds ahead of pace. It took another 150 meters to communicate to her to slow down. At this point, she put on the brakes so fast, that I struggled not to trip over her. We almost ended up in a heap in the infield. Both of us finished that workout on target. I think this demonstrates that she never, ever was fully aware of her own amazing running talent.
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