I have been slacking off with the blog. Partially because I haven't had much to say and because I have been busy with my family. It has been a trying few weeks for my whole family. We lost my husband's grandfather. He lived a full and happy 94 years which is amazing, but he will be missed. My father in law had surgery to have some cancer removed(he is doing fine), my mother in law suffered a minor hear attack(and is doing fine now too). My grandfather has been in the hospital with severe anemia and pneumonia. Last night my cousin was killed in a car accident on his way home from visiting my grandparents. He hit a tree and died instantly. He will be greatly missed by all of us. I can honestly say I never saw anything but kindness in him. He was born a sweet person and died the same way. His younger sister is graduating high school next week and this was supposed to be a week of celebrating. Please keep your family close by and remember that we never know what tomorrow brings.
From the paper yesterday:
Hours before he died, Daniel J. Allen was doing what he loved - spending time with his family and helping people.
Allen, 26, of Hopedale, was on one of many visits to his maternal grandparents' Natick home on Thursday, chatting and helping them move patio furniture outside for the summer, said his grandfather, Joseph Durkin.
"He was a great kid," said Durkin, 82. "Every chance he could, he helped. He just wanted to shoot the breeze with us."
Allen died Thursday while driving home from Natick, Durkin said. His car crashed into a tree at the intersection of Mellen and Plain streets around 5:30 p.m.
Durkin said he will especially miss Allen's "all-around personality. He was loaded with it. Friendly, outgoing, talkative and knowledgeable about so many different subjects. The world lost a great person."
Allen was born in Natick, graduated from Hopedale High School in 2002 and attended UMass-Amherst.
He was a personal counselor at Advocates Healthcare in Ashland and had worked at Fannon Liquors in Natick.
Allen volunteered at the Milford Daily Bread Food Pantry, helping staff stock shelves and pick up food from the Worcester Food Bank, said Cheryl DeAngelo, the pantry's manager.
"He was an awesome, awesome young man," DeAngelo said. "He would do whatever we asked him to do, and he did it because he wanted to. He wanted to give of himself to the community. He wanted to make a difference in the world."
He often worked six hours a week at the pantry, DeAngelo said, and wanted to pursue a career in human services.
In 2001, for a high school history project, Allen interviewed his paternal grandfather, Alden Allen, about his experiences serving in World War II. His paper on that interview is in the Library of Congress.
"I not only learned about what it was like for an Air Force recruit in World War II, but I also saw a side to my grandfather I had never known before," he wrote. "I think the experiences were truly noble and admirable, even though they were given under terrible circumstances."
Alden Allen lives in Hopedale with his wife, Margaret. Daniel visited them last weekend to celebrate Margaret's 90th birthday.
For Christmas last December, Daniel gave Margaret a page-a-day calendar that features a new word each day. Margaret said she will now think of Daniel every morning when she expands her vocabulary by reading the word of the day.
"He was very likable, and he was quite smart," Margaret Allen said. "We're going to miss him."
Friends and family can express condolences to the family from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Edwards Memorial Funeral Home, 44 Congress St., Milford. Memorial donations may be made to the Milford Daily Bread Food Pantry, P.O. Box 122, Milford, 01757.
