Nov. 21, 1985 - A sad day in the Allen Family history. It was so hard to let go of these people.
Margaret Allen passes away in Mt. Pleasant hopsital at the age of 93. Hours later on Nov. 22,  Vane Mickle passes away at age 66 in a nursing home (I believe it was there) in Tawas City, just 20 minutes south of his home in Oscoda, MI. A double funeral day was held . Vane's was held in Oscoda, MI and then we all drove to Clare MI where he was interred in the cemetery. Then an hour or so off, and Margaret's service was at the local funeral home and she was interred in the same cemetery. I saw my dad cry at Margaret's interment. I'd never seen that before out of him. It was too much. We had food at Margaret's house twice.

Joann Allen Hoover had flown from CA to attend her mother's funeral and Vane's.

I recall Dan, Pat Mickle and I sitting in the back of the funeral home talking at a round table in a side room during visitations the day before the funeral. We had found out who the mysterious guest was that siged in the night before and visited without saying a word, viewed Margaret's body, and then left. He was the man who brought her "meals on wheels."  I think it was me,or it might have been Dan who said, "Well, he's too late today." We all got a well needed little chuckle out of that I guess.

There must have been close to 100 people in attendance, because of the double funeral, many Mickles  and other Clare friends and relatives sgtayed and showed up for Margaret's funeral as well out of respect for Theo's double loss. But also because Margaret was more well known than I thought. Many people were still alive back then that knew Floyd Allen's family and grew up with them. That was pretty cool of them.

Ironically one of the attendees, Allan Henderson, the Allen sister's cousin, died Dec. 24, 1985 just a month later. He died at the dinner table, alone on Christmas Eve, slumped over. Sad. We attended that funeral also, in which in the car on the way, Theo Mickle said outloud "If this keeps up we'll all have to become professional mourners." Well, we all laughed out of relief and grief.

 Joann Hoover was unable to attend that of course. She did go through some things, photos and such at our house in Lansing , MIas mom had her pick out anything like photos and such of Grandma she wanted since she lived so far away.

But those days were turning point in life for me. I was almost thirty, had been waiting  and stalling too long to grow up, and had to decide what the hell I was going to do with my life, and I knew with these deaths, my childhood was way overdue being over. So I often think of this date as the day my childhood ended. Well here I am 62 realizing it's better to get off the gerbal exercise wheel of life called adulthood and stop pretending to be like all the other adults now trapped in the wheel, and start being a kid again. Life is too short. It is better to have a laugh than sweat the small stuff. [So send those checks in to Tom Timlin, Professional Child, BR459 Clare MI, and tell everyone Margaret made you do it).