Mauri Helffrich

Mauri was and will forever be my soul sister. We built such a strong bond and loving friendship, that time and space couldn’t break. We could pick back up as if no time had passed. Mauri entered my life during a time that I was broken and rock bottom and I was just barely turning 21, making her 23. We quickly became inseparable. Mauri was quiet and shy at the time. Referred to as “your friend that smiles” because she didn’t talk much to anyone at the time but always wore that beautiful, welcoming, and mischievous smile depending on what she was up to. Mauri was a Girls Girl, and one of the first true female friends that I made out of High School. All I know is that we could make each other have marathon laughs where we wouldn’t even recall what we were laughing about but we would be in so much pain from laughing one of us would say it hurts and then we would lose it again. Such an infectious laugh. I was told years later that we intimidated guys because we were always laughing so much. We would hang out at coffee shops, watch local bands play, go to concerts (We got to go see Greenday play when they were new and spent more time in the parking garage, over 2 hours, trying to leave than we did in the concert because their songs were so short and only 1 album and we ran out of cigarettes). We would play pool, go to movies, the gym, host poker parties, twin out at music festivals, camping, gambling trips to Vegas, hanging out in Barnes and Noble where she told me how J.K Rowling was a sell out! She was always reading a book of some kind. One time, her brother took us water skiing. I couldn’t even pull myself up out of the water and there she went just popping right up! She loved it. Then she moved to New York. I got to visit and she showed me the city and we had way too much fun! I got to finally watch her play an indoor soccer game! That was the last time I saw her in person due to life taking us to different locations, always feeling too far away. She shared how she wanted to write children’s books and have them published. It made sense because she was such a child at heart. The last few years, we shared our struggles and our celebrations. We would laugh at how she was no longer shy and I had become the quiet one. We made plans to start traveling once we had the money with the first stop being Puerto Rico. When Mauri opened up and told me about being sick, she sounded so strong. She had lots of laughs about being called the Valedictorian of ICU. She told me there was time. She told me that “Mauri girl” was going to be okay, that all was good in “Mauri land”. She shared about having food snuck into the hospital and how excited she was. Mauri will always be an irreplaceable friend whom I will cherish always. She was and is an undeniable gift to us all. She has been taken too early. I’ve been listening to voicemails of her saying, “Hey Girl”, “Hey Bestie”, “Love you”, and the “You better be sleeping girl or you better pick up!”. I am blessed with all these memories and so many more. May you be at peace and pain free. Sidenote: Mauri, stop the side eye on my grammar already! I also hope that you found the ability to visit/haunt us easier than we thought since you said that you would so many years ago! I feel you already got me with the door knob jiggle hahaha. And yes, I will be posting photos soon, especially that one! Nothing but love, big hugs and kisses, respect, and laughter, always! <3