Memories of my Grandson, Joshua, by his Grandma Nornie

           + I remember a young child who was happy and excited about everything, and fun to be around.  He was happiest when he was collecting frogs, bugs and turtles.

           + I remember his special personality that made everyone laugh.  Everyone in our family loved all of his impersonations (especially Elvis).  He would always entertain us by quoting funny lines from movies or cracking jokes.  One of the things I miss most is his laugh, it made everyone laugh with him.

           + I remember when his family was traveling in Missouri and the South.  He wasn’t very old, but somehow he managed to find a phone and call me collect every week and tell me where they were and what they were doing.

          +  I remember he gave me a poem that he wrote when he was sixteen.  It is called Blue on Black and I read it often and think of him.

          +  I remember one day when he was about ten years old, he walked 10 miles on Hwy. 7 to see me.  It took him over half a day.

            +I remember taking him to some of his Karate matches, which he always won.  He later became a black belt in Karate.

           + I remember Joshua as a very honest, generous boy.  He would help all of his friends and family whenever they needed help.  I thank God everyday for all the joy he brought into my life.

           + I remember his smile when he came at Christmas with his arms full of presents.  Whenever he left he always gave me a hug and said “love you”. 

          +  I remember his phone calls when he would say “Hi grandma, this is Josh, can I come and visit?”

         +   I remember so many wonderful memories of Josh.  Even thought my heart is broken, I take comfort and strength from my Lord and Savior.

          +  I remember we are all God’s children and Josh is home in the arms of his Heavenly Father.  I know I will see Josh again and see him smile and hear him laugh.  Then all my tears of sorrow will turn to tears of joy.

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The River

A memoir by Micah Zitzloff.
We were halfway down the splashy, fast river, and all my family and friends were jumping and swimming in the water, except me. I was too little to swim on my own; I was 7; so I sat on my tube with the sun baking me, while I snacked on apples and cheese, watching the flies zoom after each other.

            I was sitting bored, when the current veered me off to the right on my tube, into the rocky rapid raging waters; and before I could say, apples, my neck was caught under water by a vine hanging down from the trees, I was thinking I was going to drown, or maybe even die there. But thanks to my oldest brother, Joshua, who saw me over in the bushes I’m alive today. After he saw what happened he jumped off his tube and pulled me up out of the water making sure the rope that was connecting me to the other rafts wasn’t cut.

            So the next time you’re going on a tubing trip down a river, make sure you have an awesome brother like Joshua!
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Josh and I loved
exploring the endless wilderness behind your  property.  When we went exploring, we answered only to ourselves.  We climbed trees, built forts and practiced our roundhouse kicks (he the superior climber and kicker). Time felt like it stretched on forever back then, and eternity seemed to pass from the time we ordered a pizza to the moment it arrived (he was the first of my friends to eat Stuffed Crust pizza backwards!)


Back then there was this chameleon/salamander/gecko in your living room.  One time it shed its tail and we convinced Amanda that Micah ate it.  We built  "wicked" jumps for his RC car, and I told him that keeping the tires partially deflated allowed the car to lose less speed over big sidewalk bumps.  I have not idea how that got in my head or if it's even true!  We debated the possible victor of a Star Trek/Star wars intergalactic showdown while watching late night tv ( the reception in the basement was horrible!) When I'd sleep over, we'd share the waterbed.

Over time, we'd weigh the pros and cons of either buying delicious candy at 7-High, or splurging on super-sweet Xmen trading cards we'd never trade to each other (his favorite, Gambit, was a "ragin cajun.") One time he washed a "church shirt" of mine after I spilled ketcup all over it , so I wouldn't have to worry about my mom being upset if the stain didn't come out.  I didn't even know how to do laundry at the time.

I'll never forget hanging out at Lake Minnetonka [Josh's grandparents house], laying on the trampoline (how many times did we launch someone off that thing into the little everygreen tree?)  and wondering which famous people were hanging out [next door] with Jimmy Jamm at that moment.. . . every time we wondered, though, we'd realize that even if we knew who he was entertaining, we'd rather just chill where we were and eat Mr. Freezes.

There area a million more moments and we could go on and on, but I'll keep this shortish...........
with love,
Paul Peters

 Josh's "wilderness" Tree House