Day 1: Beginning of my crazy spring break

I have been told by a good friend of mine that I needed to start blogging but I never thought that I had anything interesting to share until today…

Josh's Story

DAY 1

Saturday

March 24^th, 2012

I’m sure that everyone who has seen the news today has heard about the tragic road rage incident near Loon Lake last night where a 26 year old male got shot in the “shoulder” and was rushed to the hospital where he went into surgery in critical condition…. Well that 26 year old male is my big brother.

I was over on the west side of the state for spring break when I got the phone call that my brother had been in a severe accident and that it would be best for me to come. So I hopped on the next flight home and arrived into Spokane this afternoon. All I could listen to on the plane was Dave Matthews Band, Iration, and Jack Johnson, some of Josh’s favorite music. When I landed I was greeted by my parents and we were off to the hospital. The first time I had seen him since the accident and I was a little taken back by what I saw. On a normal day, I was to walk into a room my brother would be the first one to crack a joke or punch me in the arm to show his brotherly affection towards his “little sis”. Today when I saw him, he lied there in a hospital bed with what seemed to be millions of cords hooked up to him, and he was motionless. It was so hard for me to see him just lay there but when I walked up to his hospital bed this afternoon and touched his hand, he opened up his eyes and I instantly knew that my big brother wasn’t gone. I didn’t want to get him overly worked up so I went back into the waiting room to visit some family friends who had come to visit.

We went to dinner and after words I headed back to the hospital to visit him again with my grandparents. When I got there we were greeted by the nurse saying that Josh’s woke up a little from his drug induced coma and had been writing about where his family was. I rushed into his hospital room and immediately had a smile on my face when I saw his eyes wide open. He was writing things and when people would crack jokes he would flip them off just like Josh would normally do. He was making us laugh at the things he was writing and you could tell that this injury wasn’t going to damage his amazing personality!  My parents and I went home around 11:30 to get a few hours of sleep before we hit the hospital for another early morning to be by Josh’s side.

I am so incredibly grateful for the friends and family who have been by my family’s side today. Your love and support is overwhelming and we couldn’t be more blessed to have such amazing people in our lives! My brother is such a fighter and i knew instantly when he could write back and forth to us this evening. I was so blessed to have him motion to give him a kiss on the forehead and see his "Josh Pickens" personality show through even in his circumstance! He is truly a hero and the strongest man I have ever met! I’m so inspired by his strength. God works in mysterious ways and I don’t know how I could ever repay him for keeping my brother on this earth with me. Please continue to pray! :)