I feel a little guilty about this. A txt msg from Josh

Josh sent this to me on Saturday, June 5th via txt msg (and also three other people who I don't recognize their cell numbers).

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you' Something good will happen to you today; something that you have been waiting to hear. Please Do not break! PRAY JUST 27 WORDS. GOD OUR FATHER, WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES; AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY IN JESUS ' NAME.. AMEN This prayer is so powerful. Pass this prayer to 12 people including me. A blessing is coming to you in form of a new job, a house, marriage or financially. Do not break or ask questions.This is a test. Does God come first in your life? If so, stop what your doing & send to 12 people NOW WATCH WHAT HE DOES.


I never responded back. I should have, but I didn't. Truth is, I get a lot of forwards from friends via email and txt and a lot of them I simply don't read. After I heard Josh was dead, I went back and read it. It kills me that I didn't respond back to him as instructed.

The fact that he did forward this shows what kind of person he was. Josh =

Dont feel bad Buzz, everyone gets forwards 24/7. How were you to know that there could possibly be some meaning behind the message. I believe it was just a coincidence anyway. I am sure that Josh's decision to rejoin our lord was a spur of the moment thing. Feeling guilty is unnecessary.

yeah, and being a Christian myself, I don't reply to those messages either (there are alot that go around)...I've been fighting back tears, angry, fighting back more tears, just running scenerios through my head...I mean I just hung out with him last wed and fri. night...he talked to me for over an hour and a half about his marriage problems with me wed. (1 to 1, heart to heart) I tried to be there for him and help him through this. I talked to his neighbor Jerry today and he said that after his wife moved out (in the morning) later that day Josh had helped the other neighbors out with their vehicle (or something like that). They said they couldn't tell that a thing was wrong...I was texting him on sunday too and he didn't respond to any of them...I don't know how much more I should say (don't know if its my place to speak...) I guess my point is, if he had done it spur of the moment, or had planned it out, we couldn't have done anything about it...maybe we could have stopped him once, but if he was determined to do it, he would have done it eventually. I've just been so frustrated wishing there was something I could of done myself to prevent this...I'm assuming we are all feeling this way...

yeah... thanks guys... this place is great.

I'm just not feeling good about any of this. I'm sick. This was totally unnecessary.

I'm sure his REALLY close buddies are way worse.

This just sucks.

Buzz, this seems to be hitting you pretty hard. Dont beat yourself up about this. It looks to me like it might be a random forward that he got, but it also might have meant something to him at the time and that is why he sent it to some of the people he knew. It is hard to believe that someone we all knew, whether we were close to him or just knew him from meets or the streets, is gone now. He will definitely be remembered. I think it is harder to believe he is gone because of the decision he made instead of it being an accident. I am married also, and every couple has their ups and downs. I dont know anything of the problems he was having, but we know know that it affected him greatly. It really hit me hard when it was mentioned that he died of a broken heart. I am a christan also. The bible says that God designed marriage to be an example of His love for us. That kind of love is powerful and can be devastating when it is taken away. Again, I dont know his problems, but I do feel sad that he was struggling. I think we can all learn to be more outspoken when we really need help. We can also learn to listen to others and not ignore when they ask for help. I have really been re-thinking what kind of example I am to my friends and how much i actually pay attention and care about them. I am gonna make myself always available to listen. I will be attending the funeral as an acquaintance. I only wish I could have known him more. Remember the King of the streets.

like 3 weeks ago josh and I talked over the phone he sounded very depressed he mentioned to me he was thinking of just ending it all, right there n then i stopped and told him dont even try anything stupid cuz i knew wat he was thinking of doing I told him it's not worth it, try n let it go.. I cheered him up just talking about racing n stuff, the call ended up pretty good, then this happened. I have been thinking of him ever since I found out wat happened. I am just sooo bummed out and I never even met josh just phone and text.
we had plans to meet up tommorrow for lunch cuz i am driving by billings heading over to miles city. RIP bro!!

My father died when I was very young and I have used a saying to get me through hard times my whole life.
It goes like this: EVERYTHING happens for a REASON, even if we never know why.
This has been applicable to many situations in my life especially death. I still do not know why my father had to die but I know damn sure it was for a good reason.

Josh's death has caused an ENTIRE community to come together and just look at how far we've come in less than a week's time. This is amazing and beautiful don't you think?!

To those in this thread who are having a hard time, you have to know that this was meant to be. As hard as that sounds I have not read/heard anything yet that would have prevented this tragedy. When someone takes their own life it is so easy to think about who could've prevented it. But ultimately it was his decision and his only.

Buz, You can't let yourself feel responsible. We've been beating ourselves up also......we hung out with him quite often living across the street from him and knowing him for the past 20+ years. We had Friday off work so spent the entire day with him going to truck shops looking for cool parts to build stuff out of. We spent the majority of Sunday with him and would NOT have left him alone had there been any question at all about his safety of harming himself. Josh had a positive outlook on life.....talking about his upcoming future and many goals he had in life. Once he received his settlement (his evaluation was June 24th), he had great dreams of going back to school for graphics, talked about his son and meeting him when he was older and came to found him, buying the house they were renting as this is the coolest street with lots of hotrodders, burnouts, etc. He said he was going to make the best out of the situation and stay positive. Trust Me - I am so sorry for what has happened and will never forget that imagine I have in my head from when we found him. He could've been there all night had we not cared enough to be concerned when he wouldn't reply to texts or answer his phone. It was a decision he made and did in a matter of an hours time. I wish we could turn back the clocks. Our street isn't the same without hearing his car come and go. Josh has been a great friend to Shawn & I. We have many great memories and will keep them close to our hearts!