Facts
Full Name: Caitlyn Marie Thurlow [Née Lavern]
Date of Birth: December 4th, 1965
First Appearance: 1.01 “Call Me Home”
Current Occupation: 4th Chair, Stone Creek City Council
Hospital Volunteer, Stone Creek Memorial Hospital
Stockholder, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
Previous: Secretary to James Thurlow, Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises
File Clerk, Stark-Jones Law Firm
Waitress, Momma’s Sweet Tea Cafe
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Current Residence: 505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek [Thurlow Cottage]
Previous: 2121 Mason St., Stone Creek. [Hoffman Village Apartment #21]
626 A St. Chicago, Illinois [Lavern Home]
223 Waterfront Rd., Subtle Valley, Illinois. [Crenshaw Home]
626 A St. Chicago, Illinois [Lavern Home]
Relations
Parents: Daniel & Cheryl Lavern
Siblings: None
Children: Emily Roscoe [w/ Damien Crenshaw; Deceased]
Significant Other(s): James Thurlow; Married, 2003
Previous: Damien Crenshaw, Married in 1991; Divorced in 2000
Others: Henry Thurlow [Father-In-Law; Deceased]
Anita Porter Thurlow [Mother-In-Law]
Emmet Thurlow [Brother-In-Law; Deceased]
Shannon Thurlow Jurado [Sister-In-Law; Deceased]
Kirsten Thurlow Sutton [Step-Daughter]
Emmet Thurlow [Step-Son]
Marina Thurlow [Step-Daughter]
Charlie Sutton [Step-Son-In-Law]
Penelope Wilkinson [Friend]
History
Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Caitlyn Lavern was born to Daniel, a handyman, and Cheryl Lavern, a painter who had both grown-up in Chicago and met in High School where they fell in love. Caitlyn spent most of her days either in school or at ballet recitals which her mother would usually drive her around for. As she got older she dropped ballet and replaced it with poetry and drawing hearts all over her High School text books. She met Damien Crenshaw their Freshman Year and slowly she fell in love with him. Caitlyn knew that Damien was the one for her and after graduation they both left Chicago together and settled in Subtle Valley, Illinois where Damien attended college and Caitlyn got pregnant with their first and only child. Eventually she gave birth to a baby girl named Danielle Evelyn Crenshaw and finally got married in 1991.
But married life was hard for the couple and they both had to get full-time jobs to make ends meet. When Damien was sure they wouldn’t survive their circumstances he took Danielle away and had another couple ‘adopt’ their baby girl without telling Caitlyn. He led her to believe that Danielle had died.
Caitlyn couldn’t move past what had happened to their baby girl and finally after nine years of marriage she filed for divorce and move back home to Chicago to start her life all over again and without Damien in it. The fairytale that Caitlyn thought she was owed was now ruined so she took a File Clerk position and lived with her parents for two more years. In 2002 she finally got a break by landing a job at Thurlow Lumber Mill Enterprises as James Thurlow’s secretary. She would go on to help James lift the company out of debt and get closer to James. Eventually in late 2003 Caitlyn let her guards down and married James Thurlow. This ignited a rivalry between Caitlyn Lavern and Helen Tyree that has pinned James in the middle of ever since. Her short time in Stone Creek had earned her the trust of Penelope Wilkinson who bestowed Caitlyn with the 4th Chair at the Stone Creek City Council. Caitlyn also began volunteering at the Hospital and because she married James, was given a small stock-hold in the family company.
Start of the Series...
In 2010 her life was shattered, her ex. husband, Damien Crenshaw came to Stone Creek at the Annual Founder’s Ball. His entrance, which included, Gillian Sutton on his arm much to her families disappointment would change Caitlyn’s life forever. He came back into her life to mention that their daughter might not be as dead as he had previously told her and he admitted to still holding a torch for Caitlyn. With the help of Diem Joplin, her current husband’s High School Sweetheart, Caitlyn tried to find her daughter without the help of Damien who seemed to just want to play mind games with the lot. It wasn’t until Patrick Sutton, with the intentions of getting Damien away from his daughter Gillian, lied about Abigail Jenkins being the real ‘Danielle’ and thus initiated a war between Caitlyn and Damien as they both fought for Danielle’s affection. Damien had won out with Abigail’s love, this worried Caitlyn who thought that their daughter had hated her. After the bar accident that sent Abigail to the hospital Caitlyn was sure that she had lost her daughter as Damien spent all his time with Abigail.
It wasn’t until 2011 that they learned the truth about Abigail Jenkins not being the real Danielle. Diem had discovered a huge clue and after they confronted both Patrick and Damien this sent Abigail into a tailspin and she packed her bags and left Stone Creek. Caitlyn vowed to never forgive Damien for taking Danielle away from her a second time and began her mourning process.
When Shannon Jurado died, Caitlyn accompanied her husband James, Kirsten, Emmet, and Charlie to Paris, France so that they could attend her funeral. It was there that they discovered that her sister-in-law’s death wasn’t the accident that they all had believed. Shannon had died because she was researching some rare diamonds that she was able to obtain and a man named Edward Rayburn had wanted them. It was all too much for Caitlyn to take in though having recently just lost Danielle again, so she opted to return to Stone Creek early while James sorted out the complications of his sister’s death and their linked company; Thurlow-Jurado Overseas. Returning to Stone Creek alone gave Damien the opportunity to plead Caitlyn to accept his apology for going along with Abigail being Danielle and that he was sorry he led both women to believe such a lie. Caitlyn forbid him from seeing her again.
Her husband James later insisted that she consider filing a restraining order against Damien to protect her. After much consideration and conversations with her family and friends, Caitlyn agreed that if her ex. husband threatened her once more she would follow through with the restraining order. She continued to live her life, trying to keep Damien out of her thoughts as he began to appear to her in visions. On Halloween night she kept seeing Damien at a party thrown by Kirsten so she went out for air only to be confronted by what she felt was the real Damien. But instead of telling James, she decided to keep it secret. They filed the restraining order shortly there after.
Emily Roscoe asked Diem for her help in finding her birth parents so that she could marry Bentley Wilkinson in peace. It wasn’t until 2012 that Diem started to make progress, she realized that a bracelet that Emily had given her had the initials D.C. which stood for Danielle Crenshaw and Diem rushed to James’ side to give him the news. They decided together they would tell Emily and Caitlyn of their discovery instead of keeping it from them like they did with Caitlyn the first time. Caitlyn ordered a DNA test which Emily was quick to agree. But Caitlyn couldn’t bring herself to see her husbands secretary face-to-face, even though they had always held a friendship for the last two years. While the tests were being prepared a city-wide blackout halted the process and although a determined Caitlyn wanted to stay at the Hospital a scared and defeated Emily Roscoe decided to go home until the results were in. This would be her undoing, since Emily was home alone when an intruder broke into her apartment that she shared with Bentley and murdered her that very night. This devastated Caitlyn when she finally had learned the truth that Emily was indeed her missing daughter, Danielle Crenshaw and she would be left to mourning her one last time.
Caitlyn began to retreat from everyone in her life and neglected her duties for the City Council. After going to Damien and breaching the restraining order, Caitlyn admitted that she knew Emily Roscoe was their actual daughter. This angered Damien because he wanted to at least attend the funeral, but it had already taken place. He accused Caitlyn of being a cold woman and she slapped him. She also went on to accuse Diem Joplin of trying to steal James from her and warned Gillian Sutton that Damien would only cause her much pain.
Portrayed by: Chely Wright [2010-Present]
