Nate,
Thanks for putting together this blog to remember your Dad. I have some great memories of Randy on Spring Break. The photo on the left is six of our group of seven, Left to Right: Brian Marzano,
Mike Romer, Randy, Chris Hersman, John Maisel and Scott George (I'm on the other side of the camera) who ventured all the way to Pompano Beach, Fl. We drove in two cars for our GHS senior year spring break in 1983 (check out the George family station wagon in the background).
It was good, wholesome fun in the sun. Pompano was just North of the, then famous, Ft. Lauderdale rowdiness. We stayed away from that. Instead, we played ball, fished and enjoyed the ocean. One evening, we came across a huge bale of pot that had floated up on the beach, and we immediately notified law enforcement. They came and took it away.
On the way home from that trip, I was in the Maisel Malibu vehicle with Randy and John. We were the first car stopped behind a massive auto accident on the Florida Turnpike. It included more than one fatality. We felt extremely helpless and frightened, as it seemed to take forever for the first responders to arrive. We proceeded North after a few hours stopped. I remember your Dad driving our vehicle through a big rain storm in Atlanta. It seemed even more treacherous after what we had witnessed only hours before.
The photo on the right is spring break in college. Your Dad is with Mike Romer (left,) and Brian Marzano. Mike also passed away in 2014 at age 49. He was a very close friend of all of us. I have been thinking about both of them quite a bit over the last two plus weeks. They were both fine men and leaders. They both treated people with kindness and welcomed people warmly in situations where others might hold back. They both had a great sense of humor and laughed and made others smile frequently. Two great men that I'm proud to have called friends.
Port St. Joe, Fl. was an awesome spring break destination.
We camped out under the evergreen trees and spent the day on the white sand beach. We would play
softball for hours without interruption from beach walkers. We seemed to have the beach to ourselves. At night we would build great camp fires and play cards. We built a few bonfires in the sand dunes and "dune jumped" until we were exhausted. Those spring break memories are great.
I have many great memories of Randy. Spring break memories are fun because of the travel and adventures that we all experienced together. I could go on with more, but I just wanted to let you know that your Dad meant a lot to me and I will miss him greatly.
Mike Lorenz
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