When I reflect upon my times with Joshua, I have to admit that I remember him most as my ever-present companion and probably never really got to know the adult he was becoming.

I've just kind of dumped while musing about his life and death today. Here are some teasers about various memories I have about his life.

Fire hydrant - getting his tongue stuck to a fire hydrant at the park and Dad breathing on it to get him loose.
Monkey bars - fire hydrant redux. While playing on the monkey bars, he was convinced by his peers (pretty sure that means me) that his tongue wouldn't stick to them. I got him free with the same trick.
Bowling in the basement - we'd line up Pringles cans and try to knock them down with a tennis ball and sometimes a super ball.
Squirrel in a bag - One of the classic stories is that Josh & I and a group of neighborhood kids trapped a squirrel under a car. Josh wanted to catch it and keep it (as a pet, I imagine), so he hurried across the street hollering to Mom that he wanted something to catch a squirrel in. Not thinking that he already had one in mind much less trapped, she hooked him up with a paper bag (possibly a two-ply Byerly's bag, but still…) . Well, he went right back out there, bagged it, and brought it to the front door. Not surprisingly, Mom didn't let him bring it into the house.
Biking - just biking in the neighborhood was an adventure since we lived on the top of a hill both ways. As we ranged further out, that included going to Snyder Drugs to play video games or several miles to the library or Target.
Ice Sailing at White Bear Lake - Eric, Josh & I occasionally cleared off some ice in White Bear Lake to skate or play hockey (Eric's passion). On one particular windy day, we got the brilliant idea of opening up our coats and letting the wind blow us clear across the lake. We must have gotten speeds of 10mph or more (seemed like 60mph). However, once we reached the other side, the opposing wind was too much for Josh to make it back, so we had him walk around the lake along the shore while Eric & I went back for help.
Sledding accident - on a similar theme, we had gotten a toboggan from our Uncle Bruce - wood (unlike our traditional plastic sleds) with the metal runners. He lost control and went head-first into a tree (possibly foreshadowing for his eventual end? Anyway, with Josh crying and bleeding from a head wound, I badgered him to hurry and keep moving so we could get him home and looked at as quickly as possible, when he just wanted to drop and wail. We found a compromise and I pulled him home on the sled (which was in pretty poor shape).

The things I remember vividly were 1) being afraid that I would be held responsible because I was in charge of my little brother, 2) learning that exertion while bleeding was not a good thing and thinking at the time that had he heeded my advise I might have gotten him killed, 3) we were both afraid that the accident might get our Dad in trouble and we might not be allowed to see him again. It's kind of funny in retrospect that the emergency skier that found him and remarked that he felt Josh's spirit telling him that it was ok and being embarrassed that his actions were causing so much trouble for everybody. As much as he and I always wanted attention, I can vouch for that being EXACTLY how he would have felt about his mishap.

Being grounded - It wasn't terribly uncommon for us to be sent to our rooms for rough-housing or whatever else boys do to upset their parents. We'd never let that last, though, and it wouldn't be long before we were creaking our doors open to make faces at one another across the hall and see how far we could get without repercussion. Given time, we'd have our doors open playing Legos or throwing paper airplanes with secret messages (in code!) or whatever.
"Jaws" - It might have been a play on his name or it might have been his tendency to bite since he couldn't outmuscle me; I'm no longer really sure. One year, I was stuck in Home Economics for a project and elected to sew him a shark pillow (kind of a triangle with a face on it) that I dubbed, "Jaws". I know he kept it for years, but I don't know whatever became of it.
The fight with my friend - while playing 3-man softball (one batter, one pitcher, and one fielder), he accidentally hit my friend in the head with a pitch and got charged. Naturally, I rushed in from the outfield grass to intervene, but Josh had taken several blows. Years later, he remarked that he never forgot the times I stood up for him and held that incident up by example.
RenFest baker - I can't remember the circumstances surrounding his involvement with Renaissance Festival. I think it's just one of those weird coincidences where his personal circle of friends independently brought him to RenFest, but we enjoyed a few rainy mornings at the Bakery stage around the fire. It was then that I first became aware of his interest in cooking though we were pretty (in)famous as children for our soup-mixing skills.
Mentorship - In a related twist of fate, Josh hooked up with local author Stephen Brust through his interest in creative writing. I had also hooked up with Stephen years earlier at RenFest Academy in 1986 and I made the embarrassing faux pas of telling him that he shared the name of my favorite author! We had some good times in my first few years there, including a friendly form of competitive wooing of some young ladies. I don't know much of the mentorship and I'm seeking to learn more. At the time of Josh's death, I tried to reach out to as many people as I could and I don't think I ever informed Stephen.
Indiana Road Trip - not much to tell except that I hit a bird on the way back that destroyed my headlight and between that and all the mislabeled construction in Iowa on the way back, I know I had him pretty panicked with my driving rage.
Living together - Probably the greatest tribute to our friendship was that we lived together twice as adults. I think we found each other to be the only person who truly understood where we came from and how we operated. That doesn't signal agreement; just acceptance :)
Bridge Club - It was truly a pleasure to be able to share an interest in Bridge at the University of Minnesota. I rarely got to see Josh in a social setting where one of us wasn't the focus and he really impressed me with how he handled himself.
Investment Club - In one of my many schemes, I proposed to pool some of our resources together and purchase some CDs as a kind of do-it-yourself credit union. The idea was pretty sound, but was never going to get us anywhere. Like a trooper, Josh was there to support me.
Softball - Josh invited Wendy & I to participate in his softball league that I think was sponsored by his new friends at church, Church of the Open Door. Religion was growing into a major force in his life and he found a rare comraderie there that I think he'd always been seeking. Likewise, I'm proud of the fact that for once, I supported him in something he wanted to do and had a lot of fun particpating.
My Best Man - during our preparations for the wedding, Josh took a shine to my sister-in-law and asked after her. She was seeing somebody at the time and he was pretty disappointed. I remember her commenting on his attentiveness, but I'm pretty sure she didn't make the connection and at the time it seemed like a discreet little secret to keep :)
His Best Man - Ok, this is actually the greatest tribute to our friendship. I really thought that he'd feel closer to one of his friends than his older, self-absorbed brother. I was honored that he chose me to stand up for him. One of my favorite Josh stories is still my toast where I lampooned his meticulous attention to detail by spooling out a roll of printer paper and referring to it as his most recent email! :)