Her Kinda Guy

My mother-in-law is in town. She’s a great lady and we get along swell despite the fact that I don’t speak Japanese and she speaks only a little English.

I was doing a quick post when my wife noticed that I was on this blog and she called her mom over to take a look. You see, my mother-in-law had actually met Josh in 2005 and was very sad to hear that he had passed away. I played the memorial video (see here) and she marveled at how handsome he was when he was young and clean cut.

This gave me a little chuckle because way back in 2005 after she meet Josh, she told her daughter that she found Josh attractive and the he was her kinda guy. Well, I found this amusing and cute. Mrs. Swinebread on the other hand was stunned because she really didn’t want to know her own mother’s likes and dislikes when it came to men. I can understand my wife's feeling but to me her mother's innocent statement was like noticing the attractiveness of a good actor or public figure. Plus, Josh was such a kind, gentle soul that I think my mother-in-law found his caring demeanor very charming.

I never told Josh that my mother-in-law from Japan found him to be a good looking guy as I thought he might feel a little weird about it.

Josh appealed to folks on so many levels and this fun little memory reminded me that one of those levels was sexiness. Josh was a sexy guy. He was appealing in that shy, quiet way. I obviously didn’t think about this very much being his friend and all but for some of you gals out there, I know it’s another facet of Josh you will miss. It’s just one more way he was your kinda guy.



-Swinebread

Jen has uploaded all the photos from Josh's memorial service to a picasa album.

Please go and Check them out here

Thanks Jen and thanks to all who submitted photos in memory of Josh.

Jen also would like to add more Photos too.


-Swinebread

I met Allison today and we went through some photos. I had time to scan a few of them in.

This great one is aPolaroid of Josh with his brother Brian (left). I think this is from about 1991.

Please correct me if I'm wrong about the year.

With the weather in PDX so crumby, I've been wondering what Josh would be up to...

I picture him holed at home with his folks. Watching TV with his dad. Having meals with his folks around the table. And in the evenings staying up way too late. Either organizing his room or painting miniatures. And all the while giving the kitties occasional pets.

I could be wrong. This is just some of the things Josh told me he did when he was at home.

I still like to think of him doing those things though.

I hope we all can have at least a little bit of a Merry Christmas. Josh would want us to...

Josh's Memorial Video Now On Youtube

Thanks to Pigletinjuly for uploading





-Swinebread

My friend Josh who was a part of my family

This is a picture of Josh with me, friends, and family at my cousin Ryan's wedding. When I say friends and family the words are interchangeable really. My friends are my family. And Josh was family.

Josh had a way of touching everyone. People he had only met a few times - or even once in some cases - have been devastated by the loss of this wonderful man. Jennifer (the little brunette third from left in the front) met Josh only on this day. And, like all of us, fell in love with who he was. My mother only spent time with Josh on 3 or 4 occasions in the 10 short years that he was my friend and thought he was a quirky, beautiful person. Both of these people were grief stricken and cried when they found out that Josh had passed away.

That was the kind of person that Josh was. A person that you loved from the first time you met him. I think that speaks volumes about what a genuinely good man he was. His immediate family - and us, his extended family - have a lot to be proud of when it comes to Josh.

I know that what I've written above only covers the tiniest fraction of what Josh meant to us all. And in the coming days I intend to write more about my brief time with Josh. But, for now, this is all I can manage.

I love you, Josh. And I really don't like the world much now that you're not in it.

I found this image on Brian's (Josh's brother) facebook page.

What I love about this picture is that it really shows Josh's goodness and kindness while also conveying how happy he was to be an uncle again. This is a picture of Brian and Erin's new baby, Tate, born just a few months ago.

I've been keeping my mind busy and not allowing myself to cry too much but when I saw this image of Josh this morning it was just too much and I broke down. I think there are a two reasons.

A black and white version of this amazing photo had been lovingly placed in Josh's ICU room by his family. I really appreciated that it was there as I visited his bedside late in the evening and none of his family members were there at that time. It spoke volumes about how much he is loved and why we care about him so much. Having that picture present got me through seeing him in the state he was in.

The other reason I broke down is that, like Brian, my wife recently had a baby. Josh never got the chance to see my son and now my little one will never know him the way we all did.