Chapter V

Joshua was born on November 19, 1975. None of our first three children were “surprises”, and perhaps for Josh the planning period was shortest. But his mother very eagerly nursed him until he was three, much longer than she had nursed the others. As with the others, I assumed a lot of the take care of the baby chores when I was not at work, changing diapers, feeding, rocking, and singing to the baby. We were what could be considered a democratic and liberated family.

Josh walked at about the same one-year mark that the others had. Some stories stand out in recalling early childhood. He often put himself to bed, going up the stairs after dinner at about seven o’clock, sometimes alone. He was tired, so just walked upstairs, put on his pajamas and crawled under the covers. Most often I would see him and follow after to “tuck” him in, give him a hug, run my fingers through his hair, and sing to him, or tell him a story.

He was very mild mannered, did not cry often, in fact, I remember only one episode of serious crying. I don’t recall why. Was he being denied a chance to visit a friend? I don’t know. I do know he became friends easily. One movie of children sledding comes to mind. He and his friend were rolling atop the hill, rolled into the plastic sled, and away they went almost as if by accident, but very happy.

He and Kevin could be found sometimes inside homemade tents, they’d used chairs, cushions, and blankets. They had with them tape recorders and they were creating radio programs, quite varied and elaborate, with news and weather. When camping in Bluebird Meadows, they would make their own fire and want to camp off by themselves. They talked constantly it seemed, let their imaginations take them through the world. I have no idea where they went, but they were still talking when the rest of us went to sleep.

Another memory, Chris and Julia were walking to school. Josh watched them leave, wanted to be with them. I meantime went work on some barn wood project. When next I looked up he was gone. I looked out the gate and saw him standing at the corner of Main Street. I ran as fast as I could go, he was going to school, but waiting until he could see no cars coming from either direction. And he could see a half-mile in either direction. No matter how far away the car, he waited. I hugged him with assurances that we could go early and visit Chris and Julia at school, and walk them home.

And I remember him pounding nails into the log ends out by the barn. He was a faithful helper.

His friends were various, from all walks of life. Roger and Chris were the poor boys who lived in the trailer park. Their yard was a mess, their front door was broken, and they ate far too much candy so far as I was concerned. They would become high school rebels, wearing black leather jackets, and loving loud music. He was also good friends with Clay, John, and Reese, who became “jocks” in high school.

And there was one girl that he admired – Allysha. The Cub Scouts and the Brownies were invited to our house for an afternoon of square dance lessons. I’d cut pictures in half, allowing girls to pick from one pile and boys to pick from the other pile. Josh at first refused to pick, saying he would dance only with one girl, finally however he agreed to pick. Partners were found by most. Only Josh refused to look for his partner. Finally all girls had found their partners, but one.