Oct 7, 2009

Happy Heavenly Birthday Josh

(Oct 8th 1979-June 2nd 2009)
1 day old...
I'm ONE!
I'm Five!
I'm Eight! (Showing off the skateboards they got)
His favorite gift ever though was his guitar...
We miss you so badly, especially today on your birthday. You would have been 30....
The big "3" "0" . We would have had so much fun rubbing that in and making a party out of it. This birthday is bittersweet, it is the first birthday we don't have you here on Earth. It is also your first birthday separated from those you love and who love you. But we know you are in Heaven celebrating your 1st birthday as an angel; and will be able celebrate with the angels that have gone before us. Hopefully you get to have chocolate fudge cake there, it was always your favorite son. Ü
In honor of Joshua I thought it would be best to include some of the things our family misses most, remembers most, and some of the funny things that still make us smile. We know you would have wanted this to be a good day for us too, and wouldn't want for us not to be sad, and so we hope the smiles these memories bring reach heaven and make you smile too. We LOVE you Joshua Joseph Denning- forever and always, until we meet again.
  • Every photograph when Josh was little he'd pose with his head titled sidewards. That was his signature pose when he "smiled for the lady" as he used to call it. He grew up with a crooked smile because of that I think? We miss his grin!
  • He always had a raspy voice from the time he started talking. He sure made a good singer because of it though...He loved music!
  • There wasn't a joke he didn't love to play on you. Always a prankster and loved to tease~ Even from a young boy he loved to laugh and always was the life of the party.
  • His siblings remember the teasing, they have many different stories since the boys had the privilege of waking up with barbies cuddled to them, or in Ashley's case the dolls face smooshed in or head backwards, or wondering what that crunchy thing was on their sandwich and finding out it was dog food.
  • His first ride on the roller coaster (age 4) he got off and said he hated that ride and wanted to kill it. He later in life was fond of the fast rides though..go figure.
  • He loved cars! He collected them and loved to identify them as they drove by, fascinated by the sports cars like Lamborghini or Ferrari especially.
  • Was always the first to share or help when you needed it. He dived off a huge cliff to save our camping equipment that blew into the water once, about gave me a heart attack on the spot, but...he saved all our stuff!
  • Took pride that he was the oldest and always looked out for his little siblings, when he wasn't teasing them that is. Ü He was always a help.
  • Josh loved to play his guitar and sing. He got his guitar at age 8. Josh always enjoyed showing off the new songs he wrote or just entertaining us with his rendition of the "Peanut Butter & Jelly" song. He had an amazing talent with music.
  • I think he will be remembered most though for his quirky sense of humor. His funny imitations of Jim Carey or just making silly faces like a monkey or the crazy voices he would use when he called you on the phone. We will always smile when we think of you doing PeeWee Herman or Ace Ventura. Thank you for the Memories Josh....

5 comments:

Sara Johns said...

I agree completely that Josh does not want you (or anyone) to be sad today but to celebrate if possible. (Maybe even make some hot fudge cake for you... and I am sure that Zach would appreciate if there were leftovers tomorrow!:)

Those stories were really funny. The rollercoaster one reminds me of Mason, only rather than "kill it" Mason would just "throw it in the garbage" :) I am cracking up at picturing Zach and Cory snuggling with a Barbie or eating dog food! And, of course, Mason will always remember the PB&J song!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY in heaven JOSH!!!

Unknown said...

I still remember the incident when me and Dave made Josh cry because we kept backfiring the old 72 Chevy taking them home one day. We told him and Cory that people were shooting at us and they freaked, I guess we didn't think that through too well. But most of my life I could say, "I saw that going differently in my mind."

Jes said...

Happy Birthday to Joshua. I was thinking about him all day. I wonder what he is doing up in heaven. Thanks for all of the pictures. His baby picture looks a little like Gabriella.

Julie said...

What a great post. Take care--thinking of you!

Anonymous said...

Hey Steph,

I just love looking at all the pics. I can not even believe how big your grand kids are getting. I think of you all the time. We have to get together soon. Love ya,

Anne