Traveling
Josh had his first airplane trip when he was only two years old. He and I went to visit my Great Aunt Betty in San Diego. We went to the beach and had some multi-cultural experiences hanging out with my Muslim cousin in between visiting with my aunt and her very well-to-do friends. Josh drank out of his first crystal glass at one of my aunt's friends fancy dinner party and scared me to death when he bit a one-inch triangle out of the lip of the glass. I fished the sharp piece out of his mouth and knew then that he would keep Guardian Angels very busy for the next 30 years!!!
Since that first trip I couldn't begin to name every other trip we took together. We have hiked the Tetons in Wyoming eating berries off branches that bears had just visited. Jimmy was in a backpack on my back for that trip!! We've been to Florida and to Hilton Head with our extended family. Josh loved being in a big house with his Grandparents and aunts and uncles, brother and cousins. He'd be the first one in the pool and the last one out!! Dunking everyone he could- thanks to the dunking lessons he got from Nate and Jimmy in Johnstown!
Josh's first experience in a kayak was on a trip to Maine. We had a double kayak and I found out it wasn't all that hard to paddle by myself while Josh and I rode together. He of course had no interest in paddling!! That was just the beginning of our many many hours spent in double kayaks!
About 10 years ago Josh began having more and more trouble with his balance and falls became much more frequent. One dreary long February when I realized we were at the Emergency Room for the fifth time that month I began exploring the possibilities of getting out of Ohio for some portion of the winter. Not being able to get exercise outside in the winter(where falls are much safer in the grass!) was taking it's toll on Josh's health. And so we began a new chapter of winter travel that proved to be quite the adventure for us. It most likely extended Josh's life as well.
We went to Kauai and found out all that there was to do and how affordable it would be to be there for an extended time in the winter. The weather is perfect there in the winter-and there is plenty to do that doesn't cost a cent! Josh was quite happy throwing and chasing his football on the huge relatively empty beaches. There is so much coral on many of the beaches and Josh loved sitting for hours trying to throw every piece of that coral back into the ocean! Josh even hiked up a mountain with us to see an ancient Hawaiian site. The sun and waves and calming sound of the ocean were good for both of us.
Next we tried Key West which one of the only places that is almost always nice all winter. It was our first long term stay over the winter. A month before Christmas, home for Christmas and back to Key West for another month. We drove down with my trailer packed full of a big double bike, massage table and lots of drums. I had made arrangements to work at a nursery that sold Christmas trees- which happened to be a workshop for people with disabilities. So Josh had activities with some new friends while I watered plants and sold trees. I traded massages for things like the use of a double kayak. That winter I kept track of our kayaking time and Josh and I spent around 25 hours kayaking on the ocean together. I bought bags of river rocks that I would mound up by Josh's feet so he could throw rocks while I paddled. It was beautiful and we both loved it! Once Josh even jumped in the ocean with us 8 miles out on a snorkeling trip- it was very choppy and he was so brave!!
My lifelong friend from elementary school lives in Key West and she helped us figure out the place. We had many friends from Columbus come down and stay with us for a week here or there and it was so much fun. We also made many new friends that year in Key West. Almost daily we spent time with a circus family from England. They had 5 kids from 13 to 23 and stories about their world travels that would blow your mind!! They performed every night at Mallory Square to earn their living and we'd hang out and swim and play basketball or music during the day together. Josh loved the young guys and shot hoops and threw football with them every day.
We also had weekly drum circles at the nursery with the new friends from the workshop. I had plenty of drums to share and it was the highlight of the week for Josh and many of the other disabled adults. Boy did they love drumming!! The only downside was that they were all very sad when we had to go back home. Some friends cried and others were very mad that we were leaving.
Josh developed some very strong attachments while we were in Key West. There was only one big public park there where we went every day to play basketball and football. There are lots of homeless people in Key West and the park was one of the places they hung out. Josh became great buddies with a couple of homeless guys. They loved playing sports with Josh and it didn't take long before we'd pull up in the Jeep and hear someone yell, "HEY JOSH!! LET's SHOOT SOME HOOPS!" Josh could go for hours and hours running and sweating and acting like he was a professional athlete at training camp. The guys would want to sit down and rest and Josh would be tossing the ball saying "KICK?" Sometimes after being there all day it would be dark and I knew if I was starving so was Josh. I'd try to get him to head to the Jeep and he would refuse. I think he'd have preferred sleeping there in the park with his new buddies. More than once I'd have to get the wheelchair and strap him in to get him to the Jeep!!
I'll never forget one of the homeless guys Josh was particularly fond of- He had the same birthday as Josh and we were there that year on Josh's birthday. So we had a big party in the park for both of them. We had Key Lime pie and some snacks. I wrapped up a new football for the guys to give to Josh and he cherished that ball like no other. I'm sure it always reminded him of those friends that wanted to see him every day just as much as Josh wanted to be with them.
After spending a couple of months in Key West I discovered that Kauai was probably right around the same "cost-of-living" for a long term stay and I decided our next extended stay should be Kauai. There has been no place on earth I've been that is more beautiful!! The lush green of the huge trees and jungles with the majesty of the mountains and the breath-taking color of the ocean- there isn't a view in Kauai that isn't spectacular. And I never knew there was a place you could be on beaches so huge with so few people around you! We went in the beginning of December and stayed for almost two months.
Many friends came to visit and stay with us during that time. We stayed at a beautiful place just a couple miles from the best beaches on the island. It was just a short drive every day to be at "Josh's Beach" as I began calling Hanalei Bay. We went there first almost every morning so that Josh could play football while I did Yoga and some writing. There was a large grassy area before you hit the sand and the view there is breath-taking!! Josh loved to engage local surfers or the lifeguards as they passed by calling out "HEY!" They would turn around and look towards Josh and he'd toss the football to them in a perfect spiral! When we were getting ready to leave to go home one of the lifeguards gave me an official Kauai Lifeguard T-Shirt for Josh to take home- He told me they never give them to anybody but that Josh had become quite special to all the lifeguards and that they really wanted him to have a shirt. Josh made friends wherever we went because REALLY: He loved EVERYBODY!!!
The second half of our days on Kauai were spent at "Mom's beach". A short drive from Hanalei Bay were the beaches filled with coral on the sand where I could snorkel while Josh tossed coral and played more football. The reefs on the north shore were just steps into the water in places and within minutes I was swimming with all kinds of colorful tropical fish. Josh hardly went in the water but he liked watching me swim. I tried to get him to come in often but my friend Chuck was the only one who was successful with inspiring Josh to swim. One day when I swam a couple of hundred yards off the shore with a friend out to another reef Josh was on the beach with a bunch of friends. As we headed back to shore I looked up and saw Chuck and Josh waving at us and Josh was in up to his chest!!
I always found traveling and meeting new people to be very exciting and expanding. It helped me see my regular life at home from a new perspective and more than that I have an incredible treasure chest in my head of memories of times I spent with Josh. We had so many adventures in far away places that I could probably write a whole book about our experiences. Maybe some day. But for now I'm happy to share some of our adventures here with all of you who loved Josh so you can know what fun experiences Josh got to enjoy in his life. And how lucky I am to have shared these times with him.