Joshua Memorial

I was asked to give a two minute remembrance, since I typed it up, I thought I'd throw it on the blog.

Joshua Sloan Memorial

I never knew Josh before his cancer was discovered, or before his surgery.

I never knew him when he was not a bit brain damaged.

I never knew him to be anything but delightful, giving, full of joy and good humor, and personified by a servant's heart.

I met Josh on the children's playground at Height's church in probably in February 2006, just a few short months after his first operation. He was chasing his and my kids around the playground making monster noises. I liked him right away. The large crescent shaped scar on his head was obvious, and since I have a professional interest in scars, I asked about it. In his halting speech, he described his journey thus far.

I told Heather about the nice couple I met at church, and we decided to have them over for dinner. This is not something we do often, but it was God's timing in our lives. Our kids were about the same ages. We had a splendid time. In the course of the evening, I found out that Joshua had once won a mountain bike race in Oregon. I am really in to bikes, so I invited him out for a ride on one of my loaner bikes.

Neither Josh, nor I knew what to expect. I think he was unsure if he still had the ability to ride a bike. We met up, and indeed he did have the ability, and really enjoyed himself. We probably only rode mountain bikes together two or three times, and every time I think he crashed. That never seemed to set him back for long, and certainly did not dampen his enthusiasm.

Eventually we got him his own bike (Karate Monkey SS) which he greatly enjoyed. He couldn't drive due to the seizure risk, so the bike really turned into an essential means of transportation for him as he tried to resume work and a somewhat normal life. Josh and I rode the same route to work on our individual commutes, and many times had the opportunity to ride to or from work together which was also fun. I found it disturbing that in a few weeks he was actually the stronger cyclist. “There goes the guy with brain cancer dropping me as we race up the hills”

I think riding his bike in some ways, for Josh, was a symbol of his health. I remember once in small group he was recounting his illness and the predictions of severe disability that were made before his surgery. He summed up by saying: “They said I could possibly never talk, or walk again, but here I am....I'm riding my bike and everything.”

Josh approached us about hosting a small group for he and Sadie, and some friends from their apartment complex. We met fairly regularly for the next two years and in fact that group is still in existence. We got to enjoy kids birthdays together as well as the ups and downs of life in miscarriages, pregnancies, births, and recurrent cancer.

Over the last two years, we have observed and walked near Josh and Sadie as they have dealt with repeat surgeries, and Josh's slow decline in health.

I never heard Josh complain.

I often times heard him laugh.

I always saw him smile.

In our private conversations, Josh was continually asking me for advice on how to be a better husband and father. How to guide his family righteously, and love his wife better. How to best protect and provide for them. His eyes were simply never on himself.

Sadie: Josh loved you and wanted nothing more than to protect, restore and serve you and the girls. He was limited by his body, but his heart and will were strong for this purpose.

We as a family have been blessed to get to know Josh and his entire family.

We have a son due to be born in late August. His name is Joshua. Our hope is that he will exemplify many of Josh's virtues. Virtues that are also shared with our Lord: Servant leadership, strong manhood, and a deep love for others.

I feel this name was given to me for him from the Lord before he was even conceived. Yeshua: “Yahweh is salvation.” That salvation was Josh's hope and confidence as he lived with and died from his cancer.