Message from Professor Robert Burns
August 24, 2019 11:29 PM
Dearest Family, I just read about Lauren's passing. I am devastated. Lauren was my Rhetoric student at UMASS, Amherst, when I was a graduate Teaching Assistant...she was in the very first course I taught and she was an outstanding student and she made my course THE best....I could not have done the course without Lauren's presence and encouragement. You see, so many of the students were older than me and I suffered from severe speech anxiety, reticence, and even communication apprehension. But Lauren was with me every step of the way and at the end of the semester, she gave me a wall-hanging which she made herself....she stitched this saying for me: "There are two kinds of people in this world: The Irish, and those who wish they were!" I am so sorry for your loss and I must tell you I truly loved Lauren. She made me want to become a professor and I did. I have been teaching for over 40 years and I still look the same, or so my students tell me from many years ago. I had this overwhelming presence of Lauren come to me tonight and I searched for Lauren and found this posting of her passing. God bless you Lauren! May your soul rest in eternal peace! Amen! Your friend, TA, and life-long admirer! Love, Bobby Burns