Roller Coasters for Joshua 2013

Yesterday was the third birthday without the birthday boy…..Oh Joshua how we miss you!! 

The girls have been a great inspiration in how to miss someone in a positive way. Since losing Josh, they have saved me many times, and they don’t even know it.  Take Joshua’s birthday for example, when that dreaded first birthday drew close in 2011, it was the girls who didn’t want his birthday to be a sad day, and dragged us to an amusement park to ride roller coasters for Joshua!  Roller coasters were his very favorite rides….Genius!  A new tradition was born!    

 

At the beginning of sixth grade, Josh kept telling me he wanted to take cupcakes with green icing for his birthday treat, so when his birthday came six months after we lost him, we fulfilled his wish and took it one step further.  Instead of sending cupcakes to Joshua's class alone, we delivered over 100 cupcakes to all the 6^th grade classes!   Every year since, we have made sure the entire 6th grade in his school is covered in cake and green icing.  It does the heart good!

Are these Acts of Celebration?  For me they have become the closest thing to a moment of happiness because I get to celebrate my youngest child, my only son.

So after dropping off the cupcakes this year, it was time to head to Busch Gardens to ride roller coasters.  BC is a few hours away, so we went down the night before to make sure we got there bright and early.  The moment the gates opened, we were on our way to the first roller coaster.   

As the coaster climbed and climbed, I kept thinkin’ how I was getting a little closer to heaven and my boy.  A little closer….. Then WOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  We were off! 

When the ride came to an end the girls screamed…. “Let’s ride again”.  There wasn’t a line yet and we considered just staying on, but decided to follow the rules, jump off, run around to the entrance and back on again.  As we jumped off, Brittany noticed the golden agers who sat behind us didn’t even try to budge from their seats.  Rebels!  When she wanted to know why no one said anything to them, I responded, "Can you imagine the press headlines?"  “Local amusement park removes rebellious senior citizens who refuse to leave high energy roller coaster.”  Ride on!!!

Just riding the roller coaster was not enough, oh no…the girls decided we needed to ride in the front car!!!!    It's true that I have never met a roller coaster I wouldn’t ride, but I am definitely not a big fan of the front seat; When you are dragged by two persuasive teenagers, sometimes it’s just easier to go with the flow.  So, up we went to the heavens again, and then as we went down, Brad’s phone went flyin' out! He felt it come out, he saw it in air and he watched it fall stories below.   Oh Nooooo!  I admit my language was a bit more colorful in the heat of the moment but the end result was just an Oooops! 

The girls were suddenly in a panic even with our assurance it was ok.  It took a few moments but I soon discovered their concern….Brad had a great photo of Josh on his phone taken just a couple of weeks before he died.  Brad and Josh had gone to the Redskins/Colts game so Josh could watch his hero, then-Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning, play the Washington Redskins. 

I quickly assured them we backed up his phone and the photo was safe and sound back home.  Huge sigh of relief!   How precious these girls were to think of their father so much.

October 2010.  Josh at the Colts-Redskin game.  He got to see Peyton, his hero! 

 Emotional meltdown avoided, on to the next roller coaster!  Just as we were next to ride, the heaven’s burst forward and gushed enough rain to close the roller coaster.  The girls were convinced it was Josh playing an ornery brother trick, but after a few minutes, the rain stopped and we finally got to ride the roller coaster. 

The rest of the day was beautiful!  When it was time for a break, we found the perfect ride….a river boat.  As we glided along the water, my thoughts turned to “How would Josh sound as a teenage boy?”  “How tall would he be?  Surely, he’d be taller than me by now."  “Oh how I wish I could wrap my arms around Josh and give him a hug and kiss”.  Just then I felt something like a light kiss on my wrist.  I looked down and saw a beautiful black and blue dragonfly resting on my left wrist directly on Joshua’s tattooed name.   It just sat there for a few seconds and then flew gently away.  A Kiss from heaven!  “Thank you God!”

As the sun began to set, we ended the day as we began, on the roller coaster for Joshua.  We were tired and rather fragrant, but we were happy because we remembered him, we laughed over stories, and we did exactly what we needed to do....we spent the day together celebrating our sweet ornery boy!

Hugs!
Sherri