My brother

Day #8: My brother, Joshua Chesney.
I can't recall ever actually calling my brother by his proper full name of "Joshua." Back when he was just a little guy I nicknamed him "The Wild Bohemian," and just always called him "Boheme." He earned his nickname well, because he was one wild little dude. I have given him some slack in my old age and call him Josh about as much as I call him Boheme nowadays though. Josh is 12-years younger than me.

Josh came into our lives through the foster care system. My parents kept foster children during my childhood years and Josh came to live with us at 7-months old. He was a sweet little kid with red curly hair and boy did he like to eat! My parents eventually got the opportunity to adopt Josh and he officially became my brother (not that he wasn't already as far as I was concerned).

As Josh began to grow I wanted to be the best big brother anyone has ever seen so I went about teaching him all the things he needed to do to survive, such as; tasting worms (boy those were good, huh Josh?), eating green persimmons, putting dandelions in his mouth (I'm starting to see a pattern here...), how to dodge flying cow manure, how to run barefooted through a sticker bush.. you know all the things good big brothers do. Of course I wanted him to know how much I loved him so I hugged him quite often, go ahead and ask him about the Pyle Driver, The Small Package, Steam Roller, or Sleeper Hold. I think he really enjoyed our valuable time together.

I also taught Josh the act of fine balancing. How he didn't wake up when I hung him suspended in mid air from underneath the bunk beds by two leather belts, I'll never know. He sure did seem thrilled about it when he woke up though.

Josh is lucky he had me to toughen him up as a kid because the Good Lord knew that he would need it when he got older. I'll never forget that hot August summer night in 1996 when he crashed his Camaro into a tree stump and the front porch of a house and was pronounced dead. I'm sure it was due to his toughing up that he was able to be resuscitated. You would think after breaking nearly every bone in his body and having to learn to walk again that he would have stayed as far away from moving vehicles as possible, but no, 18-years later he got a job with TDOT and was hit by a car breaking all of those bones again. I know I've been joking a lot in this post but it's just to keep from crying. Seriously, Josh has had to go through more than his fair share of trials and tribulations. I pray the Lord would help him to recover and be able to have fun again.

Josh is a very hard worker and very mechanically inclined. He is good at fixing things and doing things hands-on. Due to his numerous injuries from this last accident, it has limited his ability to do a lot of the things that he loves to do. I know that must be hard on him but he keeps on keeping on. He's like a Timex, he takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

I guess the thing that I admire most about Josh is his kind heartedness. He may look like a rough and tough rock-em-sock-em robot but down inside Josh is a sweet caring person. He would do anything for anyone if he could. Life has dealt him a lot of tough blows and not just where accidents are concerned. As much as he's been through I wouldn't blame him if he was a mean bitter man but he's not. He's the same gentle compassionate Josh that I've always known and loved. I know I don't get to spend a lot of time with him these days and I rarely talk to him but I do love him and pray the Lord's richest blessings on him and his family.

If I know Josh like I think I do, he's probably reading this and is crying. It's okay Josh, I am too brother. I love you Boheme!