This picture was taken at a friends home in Lynchburg. Daniel was my date to my senior prom. It was a great night. Started out w/ dinner, then to prom, followed by an after party at our friend Sara's home. The next day we got up early to go to a beach music festival that head lined Jan and Dean in Roanoke, VA. What a great weekend. Just last year I asked Daniel if he remembered going to see Jan and Dean and he did.
I love this picture of Daniel. I just found an old box of pictures that had been in storage and found this one in a frame. What a gorgeous boy!
I’m a childhood friend of Daniel’s. Growing up we played at each other’s house so much so we thought sleep-overs should be allowed - never mind the fact that he was a boy and I was a girl. Needless to say at 13 or 14 that was not allowed.
But, what made our friendship so fun was that we also shared the same name. I’m Daniella, and in those years, even had the same last initial of “J.” You’ll see us in old yearbooks sitting not too far away from each other.
As a young dude Daniel had charm, so much so I broke up with his best bud to be his girlfriend and was horrified later in life to learn I’d done that to a "bromance." Despite, you’ll see the two guys together in a photo at my house with me there too at the bottom of the page. So, we three obviously got along for a good many years.
Daniel’s best bud at the time was Brandon, who seems to have forgiven us but, recently reminded me, that he hadn’t forgotten the heartbreak. He also reminded me that he and Daniel liked to roam the streets at night and steal street signs. Silly boys they were but they were the best a girl could ask for! We all used to go to the Naro movie theater and drink beer in the back of the theater, unbeknownst to our parents.
So, we made it through our tweens and teens together. We picked up the fabulous Mike Meeks along the way and then on to college we all went. Fabulously so, Daniel and I both went to colleges in Richmond. By this time, Daniel had become more like a brother to me than a boyfriend, and I remember he and I having fabulous times at parties his fraternity hosted. We sure lived it up. Not a dull day that is for sure.
While the years after college separated us, he still remained in my great-friends-of-all-time category. Distance and time never gets in the way of good friends. I always felt life was good because he was in it. He played a major role in my growing up years and is like family to me. I assumed he’d always be there, and I thought I’d run into him at some point in time…and then suddenly its many years later and here we are!
Sadly I learned of Daniel’s illness too late for me to find him in time to hold his hand in his last days, which I would have done in a heartbeat. I love him dearly and knowing he’s not with us is a serious heartbreak. But I feel good that I celebrated his life with him as he lived it - and he lived it well with fun and with a smile.
He was a good, kind and loving person whom I could always count on as did his other friends - and there are a ton of friends just like me who adored the heck out of this guy! They may not all appear here but they are here amongst us, and remembering Daniel as I talk here about him. We continue to celebrate his life and will talk of him always.
His parents raised a true gentleman, and I thank them for bringing him into this world. It's been a better place because Daniel was here.
Daniel was my parents first grandchild and they were over the moon about that baby boy!! I'll never forget the phone call from them the day he was born. My mother secretly called him Danny Boy and Pop was so proud of his son and Alice (who was like a daughter to both my parents). When Daniel was about 5, Mother and Daddy had been visiting them in Boston, probably spending about a week playing with Merry and Daniel and taking trips out to the Cape.
When Daddy told me this story he cried and I was proud of him for not being afraid of showing those tears of love. The morning he and mother were leaving Boston, Daniel cried and cried because he didn't know they were going home, he thought they had come to stay. My father said, "I'll never leave that baby again if he cries."
It made him and Mother cry all the way to the airport.
When Daniel asked me what it was going to be like to die, I told him that he wasn't going to be alone. There were going to be all kinds of wonderful people who loved him and they would meet him with open arms.
One of the other thoughts he shared with me was how special this past Easter was. He said it was perfect and he never wanted any of us to let Amanda forget that wonderful time with his family!!!
When my oldest was a tiny baby, her stomach hurt a great deal from reflux. Matt and I tried everything we could do help her feel better. Often what worked was having her sleep in a very dark room in her car seat. Because she was so uncomfortable at times, I felt very worried about leaving her with anyone except family or good friends. I would often call Daniel by car phone as I drove Lindsay around to get her to sleep. He would always talk to me.
Daniel would also come and sit with her so I could get out. Once my parents called and found him whispering hello. They asked what he was doing. He replied that he was sitting outside my closet, door shut, lights out with Lindsay asleep in her car seat. They of course said to not wake her because they knew that she cried so much from pain. I think he curiously question the location of Lindsay's nap, but was happy to sit there until she awoke.
As years went on and I had more beautiful babies, Daniel was always the "party in the box" when he came over to play with them. Running and screaming with them, giving them LOUD presents and especially books. Even in the last months of his life he read the Hunger games with Lindsay ( who cries no more ) and talked about the symbolism in the series that they both finished this spring break. What a special time with her. We are all so blessed to have those times with him.
