The Daily Blessing of Vicky and BW

The Daily Blessing of Vicky and BW

 

The sweetness and blessing of their relationship will always live on

through Vicky’s love, compassion and understanding of Joshua



We lived in Sandy, Utah when Joshua was ages 7 through 11.  We had a wonderful next-door neighbor and close friend, Vicky.  It didn't take long for us to become fast and treasured friends.  Vicky was so patient as Joshua constantly threw toys over her fence that could become very messy as her dog, BW, would chew them.  We learned which toys to buy so that BW could chew away to his heart’s content. 



Jamie and Vicky at Joshua's Viewing

There is no doubt that Joshua absolutely loved Vicky!  And he also knew that Vicky loved him because as soon as he got off the bus each day, he went right to her door!  Joshua loved her porch, loved to knock on her door, and many times would not come home until he was finished at Vicky’s house.  The sweetness and blessing of their relationship will always live on through Vicky’s love, compassion and understanding of Joshua.



I cannot even count the number of times Vicky came over to help in a tough situation, and gave up her lap at church for Jamie, and for any other help that I needed.  There is no doubt that Vicky's porch, those precious knocks on her door, and even the chewed up toys by BW, gave Joshua so much purpose, happiness and joy.

 

The day of Joshua's baptism, Vicky was there with her nephew, Joshua.  We loved that they had the same names!  And this baptism was so special as his brother Jeremy was also baptized.  And both Jeremy and Joshua had such Christlike love, purity and innocence, and the Spirit was so strong.  Vicky felt it, her nephew felt it, and it was a day that bonded us all forever. 

Adventures in Church - Page 2

1,101 Church Meetings -- Page 2

A Natural Greeter

We took the boot back very humbly and graciously, and then quickly returned it to its rightful owner,

and then kept an even closer eye at those unknown objects around us.

 

 



A typical picture of my parents, 5 of my 12 siblings -
and my dad holding tight to Joshua at church so he wouldn't run away

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Attending Church was always an interesting experience for us and anyone who happened to be sitting near us. In fact, every Sunday was an experience. We could expect the usual occurrences to happen such as a crayon being thrown down the aisle, the notebook being thrown to the seat of the person in front of us, my open purse being tossed to the ground, my earring being thrown across the chapel and hymn books regularly given to anyone in sight. And then if no one would take a hymn book, then the hymn book was thrown to the next unsuspecting person (Evelyn Harris will remember this!). We were always ready for these “usual”occurrences. It was when the unusual object or unsuspecting person got involved that we had some “unique”experiences.

 

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When Joshua was about 10 years old, as we sat in the chapel things seemed to be going fairly well.  I was trying to keep Joshua calm while trying to listen to the speaker, when without warning a child’s cowboy boot went flying high up into the air and then proceeded to land somewhere behind us.  I remember thinking the innocent thought that I was glad that was not my child’s boot.  I soon realized that it didn’t matter that it was not my child’s boot, because everyone else thought it was my child’s boot.  Joshua had somehow found it and thrown that boot clear up into the air!  A moment later, some fingers tapped my shoulder whispering that here was our boot back!!  Apparently, the child in front of us had gotten his cowboy boot off, and Joshua (with his usual keen eye) had spied it and couldn’t help but toss it gleefully high into the air.  We took the boot back very humbly and graciously, and then quickly returned it to its rightful owner, and then kept an even closer eye at those unknown objects around us.

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I could quickly tell if someone didn’t quite understand Joshua’s situation by their reaction to his noisiness in church.  This was a challenge as  I learned to react in such a way as to help them understand.  For example, one day as Joshua was his usually noisy and busy self in church, the lady in front of us handed him some hard candy lifesavers and told Joshua that he could have these candies if he would be quiet in church.  I kindly explained the situation, and also needed to let her know that Joshua could not eat hard candies as he could easily choke on them.  Any hard candy or gum was very dangerous to Joshua as he had no concept of their use, and would most likely have to tried to swallow them.

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Another day I was sitting in the overall flow area at the back of the chapel, and several rows in front of the Bickmore family.  At the time we had three children and I was sitting alone with them.  The Bickmore family also had three young children and had the usual struggles a family has with young children at Church.  But the usual struggle with my younger children combined with Joshua’s usual tendencies of trying to run and get away, throwing things, hitting, aggressions and making noise, caused the father, Jack Bickmore, to whisper to me to send Joshua back to him.  I was hesitant of course, because they already had their own young children to deal with, but he was sincere and I certainly did need the help, so I held Joshua’s hand as he walked back to sit with the Bickmore family.  As I then sat with my other two children, enjoying the peace for a moment, suddenly a child raced quickly past me, heading straight to the front of the chapel.  It took just a few seconds to realize that this child was Joshua!  I looked quickly back at Jack, as Joshua continued his run down the aisle, and whispered “you get him!”  And Jack did.  We had to laugh afterward because this was one example of other people getting use to just how quickly Joshua could get away and run and run and run....

 

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My friend Amanda told me one day that she liked to sit near us at church because then her twin toddler girls were much quieter, as they loved to watch Joshua in his big yellow helmet, as he stood up and down, shaking hands with those around him and saying a loud "hi" right in the middle of the meeting and generally staying very active and busy throughout the meeting.  Amanda’s words made my day that my noisy son could help twin toddler girls to stay quiet.  An unforeseen blessing for sure!

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One Sunday, my friend Margaret loved to recount and laugh about.  Joshua was once again exhibiting some aggressive and loud behaviors in church.  I struggled to get him out of the chapel, and just was I was exiting the door, Joshua turned around while holding his coveted hymnbook, and gleefully tossed that hymnbook right back into the chapel.   Margaret said that the look of glee on Joshua’s face was priceless as he truly and happily loved throwing that hymnbook in his last moment in the chapel that day.

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