Pennies from Heaven

Pennies from Heaven

So when you see coins in the road, you can know they are "pennies from Heaven" 

and smile and think of our handsome Joshua boy, having the time of his life, 

while very happily and joyfully throwing countless coins in the road.    

Joshua loved Uncle Doug!

I love flash-back memories.  I was in training last week to provide family support to adults with disabilities, and they started teaching us about those adults who "throw" things.  It will take me the rest of my life to remember all of those experiences!

But as they talked about keeping windows in cars closed, the one that immediately came to mind was when Uncle Doug took Joshua for a drive on a hot summer day.  Well, Doug's car did not have air conditioning.  I'm sure you can see this picture already.  So he absolutely had to have the windows down.

Doug had papers and lots and lots of coins all over the floor and seat.  It did not take long until Joshua had thrown every paper, and most or all of the coins all over the roads in Pleasant Grove.  To this day, Doug still does not know what papers he lost, or how much money was thrown.

The miracle in these many throwing experiences, is that not one time were we ever pulled over by a police officer.  That definitely would have been an interesting experience!

So when you see coins in the road, you can know they are "pennies from Heaven" and smile and think of our handsome Joshua boy, having the time of his life, while very happily and joyfully throwing countless coins in the road.  

Joshua and Papa - Escape into Heaven!

Joshua and Papa ... Escape into Heaven!
February 25, 2015

But now, he has escaped into heaven.  
And there is no doubt that Joshua was right there saying, "Papa, come here..."

Joshua and Grandpa at one of their favorite places - Zion National Park!
So many memories ... so much joy!

As I sat in my dad's hospital room watching him slip away from this life, I felt so deeply thankful for the blessing to have such an incredible man as my father.  He is the epitome of selflessness, hard work, sacrifice, and everything he has done has been for his wife, his children, his family, his church family and work friends.  Everything ...  

True love, at its finest!

And that makes his death that much more painful and lonely.  We always knew of his huge heart and love.  We always knew he wanted to help and be there for us.  And he and my mom were always there!  He died on February 25, 2015, just 3 days before his 90th birthday.  He leaves behind a legacy of love with his 12 children, his grandchildren, great-children and many loving family members and friends.

 And the love he has shown my Mom, their entire marriage, is inspiring, and a true love story.  He showed us everyday how much he loved his "wifie."  We always knew she meant everything to him!  In fact, we believe he hung on so long because he did not want to be without her.

His 90th birthday is on Saturday, February 28th, and we will love telling stories and examples of his love and sacrifice.  The stories are endless, they are powerful, they are full of love, and they are special!  He served in the Navy and we all love this awesome and handsome picture of my dad in his Navy uniform.

Grandpa holding Joshua ... a special bond from the start!

My Joshua and his "Papa" had a very special relationship from the day he was born.  I can still see my dad, sitting in my hospital room shortly after Joshua was born, and he was just chuckling with joy!  Papa loved having Joshua visit.  He would beam, he would chuckle.  Joshua knew that Papa loved him!!

We have hundreds of memories at Zion National Park, at the Sun Valley house, at the St. George house, McDonalds, multiple parks, and many, many other places.  In fact, Joshua would make such a mess at the St. George house that right when we would walk in, my dad would hand me a bottle of Windex and a rag.  We knew it would certainly be needed within minutes for sure!  His fingerprints are probably still all over their house!

My Dad, with sons Carl & Glenn at Joshua's graveside.

Papa was so sad, so devastated when Joshua died.  He lost his special buddy!  That very night, he and Susie watched slides of Joshua when Susie arrived in town, in the middle of the night.  He loved his Joshua!  He and I have loved to tell Joshua stories the last 9 years.  And I always cherish when he will randomly just say "I miss that boy."  I do too, every day!

Just a few days ago, as my Dad lay dying in the hospital from old age and dimentia, I called, and I talked to him - he did not say anything.  But after I hung up he said to Mom, Carl, Nancy and Ashley, "Where's Selma?"  Then Mom said he said "I saw a picture of Selma."  My Dad knew that I would need to hear that wonderful "Where's Selma" phrase.  And what a treasure that will always be.

His mental health went downhill fast.  In fact, they compared his actions to Joshua's behavior.  So many memories of Joshua doing the same things that my dad was doing. But our hearts broke at his confusion and his pain.  He wanted my brother, John, to help him escape from the hospital.

But now, he has escaped into heaven.  

And there is no doubt that Joshua was right there saying,

 "Papa, come here..."

We love you Dad and Papa!

Grandpa holding Jeremy and Joshua - Joshua is about to escape!

Joshua and Grandpa on the Narrows Hike in Zion National Park
We have been on that hike countless times!

Joshua being silly, and Grandpa looking on with joy!

Joshua and Grandpa at the beginning of the Narrows Hike at Zion National Park.
Jeremy is holding Jamie's hand behind them.

Grandpa helped Joshua on a flight to St. George, Utah.
This was no easy task -- this would not have been one of the quieter flights for sure!

Joshua and Grandpa at Zions National Park.
It really was a favorite place!

Grandpa, Joshua and friend Brad Barnes at Zion National Park.
Joshua's legs must be tired, but he still loves it!

Grandpa and Joshua both have legs that are more tired as time goes on.
Littlest brother Janson is helping to push Joshua's wheelchair!

Grandpa and Joshua enjoying the Virgin River at Zion National Park.
This is one way to rest tired legs -- just sit and throw rocks in the river!

Joshua, Grandma & Grandpa enjoying a fun moment!
This was the year Joshua passed away but he always found so much
joy in being with family!

We love you Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa!

Me and My Great Kids!

Chairs at Church - Joshua can help too!

Chairs at Church

Joshua Can Help Too!

Yes, the process was slower this way.  But it was also filled with much more joy and fun! 

Every day I smile as simple acts around me bring such sweet memories of my Joshua boy!

Yesterday afternoon, I was rehearsing at the front of the chapel at Church and noticed several men taking down the folding chairs in the overflow area.  I smile inwardly and outwardly as I could vividly picture my cute and handsome Joshua, so eager to help with this very "simple" task.

But he couldn't quite do it!  He just could not get the chair from a normal sitting position and fold it up ready to lean against the wall!  He had to do it his way.

So we all allowed him to "think" he was helping us a lot as he would bring us all one chair at a time.  You never knew  who he would choose to hand the chair to and in his enthusiastic way say "here!"  And you had to be ready because he was not very patient, and when he was ready to give it to you, he was ready for sure!

But I can just see him after handing the chair over, he would either clap his hands, or give a little happy hop, or possibly say "I did it."  And then he would receive high fives and "way to go" comments and many thanks.  He was needed and he was important!!  And he was happy!

And on to find the next chair he would go.

Yes, the process was slower this way.  But it was also filled with much more joy and fun!  We all need a Joshua to help take down those chairs at the end of a Sunday!

A Debacle at Disneyland -- Joshua Memories!

A Debacle at Disneyland

...he suddenly grabbed a cute stuffed animal out of a baby stroller near us, and flung with all his might that cute stuffed animal clear out into this water surrounding Tom Sawyer's Island.  

As you see Joshua (green shirt) looking so innocent and sweet in the picture below, standing next to his younger brother Jeremy, and looking out at Tom Sawyer's Island, you would never realize the tough situation he had just gotten us into!  Well either just moments before, or perhaps after, this picture was taken, we had one of many sudden "oh no" moments with Joshua!!

Jeremy & Joshua looking at Tom Sawyer's Island

We had dared to take Joshua to Disneyland, hoping he would really enjoy the excitement, the rides, the people and the fun!  Because he was so high maintenance, we only brought one sibling, as we knew Joshua would need every minute of our attention.   The day went fairly smooth -- but the benefit given to those with disabilities helped a lot as Joshua could not stand in long lines.  This was a blessing and helped to avert tantrums, aggression and confusion for him.

We had just stopped to take a break and look at the water surrounding Tom Sawyer's Island.  Well, Joshua LOVED water!  And had spent many, many hours throwing rocks, and anything else within reach, into numerous rivers.  And he had a very, very keen eye, and before we could even see or stop him, he suddenly, with lightning fast speed, grabbed a cute stuffed animal out of a baby stroller near us, and flung it with all his might clear out into this water surrounding Tom Sawyer's Island.  

I gasped in horror, and immediately gave my best apology to the mom pushing the stroller, and quickly asked where she had gotten it in Disneyland so we could hurry and purchase another one for her.  She replied with frustration that it was not purchased at Disneyland and was her child's favorite stuffed animal.  I gasped (with even more horror inside), and felt terrible!  I told her we would do everything we could to get that animal out of the water.  Yet inside, I was feeling quite stressed as I really didn't know how this was going to be accomplished!

Between his dad and I, we were able to find a worker at Disneyland, explain the difficult situation, and plead for help to retrieve this very precious stuffed animal!  Well, the Disneyland workers were fabulous, and worked very, very hard to bring that animal back to shore.  It did take a while, and while we were doing all we could to help, waiting and hoping, the mom did seem to relax and realize that this was not an intentional, deliberate naughty child.  In my apologies I had explained that Joshua had autism and did not realize what he was doing.  And I'm sure she also noticed that during this entire long time of retrieving the stuffed animal out of the water, we really did have to stop Joshua, with his very long and quick arms, from throwing many more items into the water of other unsuspecting Disneyland visitors!

Thankfully, the stuffed animal was at last retrieved, and mom and child were happy even though the stuffed animal was wet!  She truly accepted our apologies.

Jeremy, as always, was a wonderful, kind, patient and loving brother.  He was always incredible!!

We then tried to stay away from any water after that.  One long retrieval of a treasured stuffed animal was enough for one day for sure!  (If you ever been at Pleasant Grove Pool when Joshua was there, you might have had your flip flops, sunglasses or towel thrown in and will completely relate to this story!)

Joshua & Me with Jeremy

We did enjoy the rest of the day as you can see in the pictures below.  My back did begin getting very tired after about 4 hours of Joshua on my back.  So this was one of the first times (or maybe the first time) that we used a wheelchair to help get Joshua around.  He was tired, I was tired and the wheelchair was a huge blessing!!  And amazingly he stayed in it too.

This was a treasured, fun and special day!

Jeremy & Joshua on the Tea Cup ride - we did not spin the Tea Cup at all!

Joshua & Jeremy in front of "It's a Small World"

Mike, Joshua & Jeremy in front of The Jungle Cruise.
Thankfully there were no items thrown into this water!!