I was very touched by his life and stories / Linda Smith Coletti (cousin)Read >>
I was very touched by his life and stories / Linda Smith Coletti (cousin)
I read this for the first time Sandra. I had a dream about your dad and Josh the other day so tonight I was just looking up stuff for the heck of it on your dad and Josh and I found the beautiful story on your son and the nice poem. It brought tears to my eyes. I miss him too. He was quite a character. I am glad that he is with your dad and is at peace since he can't be here with all of us. That was a nice photo album. I miss not seeing you and your family. I love you! Josh would be very proud of you for all thework you have been doing. Please tell your family hello for me. Love your cousin Linda
He Only Took My Hand ......... / Sandra Kresser (mom)Read >>
He Only Took My Hand ......... / Sandra Kresser (mom)
He Only Took My Hand Last night while I was trying to sleep, My son's voice I did hear, I opened my eyes and looked around, But he did not appear. He said, "Mom, you've got to listen, You've got to understand, God didn't take me from you, mom, He only took my hand. When I called out in pain that day, The moment that I died, He reached down and took my hand, And pulled me to His side. He pulled me up and saved me From the misery and pain. My body was hurt so badly, I could never be the same. My search is really over now, I've found happiness within, All the answers to my empty dreams And all that might have been. I love you all and miss you so, And I'll always be nearby. My body's gone forever, But my spirit will never die. And so, you must all go on now, And live, and understand... God did not take me from you, He only took my hand." - Author AnonymousClose
Gone too Soon / Amy Kresser (sister)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA-Vlf3DWG8
A tribute to a small portion of the victims of the Prescription drug epidemic by Teresa Miller Close
Petition to ban Oxycontin / Sandra Kresser (mom)Read >>
Petition to ban Oxycontin / Sandra Kresser (mom) Please help us get the killer, Oxycontin, off the market and out of the hands of our loved ones!!!!!!! Far too many precious lives have been destroyed and lost due to this "poison pill". Help us tell the FDA that we are tired of greed being placed above the safety of the American people.
Please go to the website: www.banoxycontin.com and let your voice be heard!
Prescription drug epidemic / Sandra, Layne, Jake, Amy And Alex Kresser (Josh's family )Read >>
Prescription drug epidemic / Sandra, Layne, Jake, Amy And Alex Kresser (Josh's family )
Josh's main goal was to help other people dealing with addiction. We, his family want to do whatever we can to help Josh achieve his goal.
Prescription drug addiction is an epidemic that is sweeping through the country and destroying countless lives. If you or someone you know is dealing with addiction we would like to share with you the following websites:
These sites are filled with valuable information that deals with the truth behind the "silent epidemic", including the history of opium, heartbbreaking stories of addiction and death due to Oxycontin, Methadone use and abuse as well as resources to help deal with and understand these potentially deadly drugs.
We can no longer sit back and just assume that these drugs are safe just because they are prescribed by a doctor and FDA approved. The staggering death toll that continues to mount is proof that these are anything but safe. Many of you watched as your friend Josh fell prey to Oxycontin and the addiction that took over his life and ultimately took him from us. Please educate yourselves to what these drugs really are. The very best way to never become addicted to these powerful narcotics is to never try them - even one time can prove deadly.
Deadly Addiction - YouTube Video / Sandra Kresser (mom)Read >>
Deadly Addiction - YouTube Video / Sandra Kresser (mom)
Last year channel 2 news came out and interviewed us about Josh. A good friend of mine, Teresa, posted the interview on YouTube.
Happy New Year / Amy Kresser (Sister)
Hey Joshy I know its already passed mignight but I just wanted to wish you a happy new year. Do me a favor tell Papou I say happy new year too and that I love him. I hope you both are having a good time in Heaven this new years. I honestly can't believe its our 3rd new years here without you. Someday its so hard to believe you've been gone for so long and other days it seems like just yesterday. I miss you so much every single day. Happy New year again love you so much Close
Merry Christmas in Heaven....... / Sandra Kresser (Mom)Read >>
Merry Christmas in Heaven....... / Sandra Kresser (Mom)
It is so hard to believe that this is our thrid Christmas without you. This morning when we were opening presents I closed my eyes and could see you sitting in your usual spot on the floor in the living room, with all your presents and wrapped in your blanket. This memory brought a sweet smile to my face and to my heart.
Last night we started a new tradition that we are going to do on every Christmas eve from now on. We went to the cemetery with five candles in honor and memory of you and Papou and read the following candle prayer:
As we light these five candles in memory of and in honor of you, we light one for our grief, one for our courage, one for our memories, one for our love and one for our hope.
This candle represents our grief. The pain of losing you is intense. It reminds us of the depth of our love for you.
This candle represents our courage - to confront our sorrow, to comfort each other and to change our lives.
This candle is in your memory - the times we laughed, the times we cried, the times we were angry with each other, the silly things you did and the caring and joy you gave to us.
This candle is the light of love. As we enter this holiday season, day by day we cherish the special place in our hearts that will always be reserved for you. We thank you for the gift your living brought to each of us.
And this candle is the light of hope. It reminds us of the love and the memories of you that are ours forever. May the glow of the flame be our source of hopefulness now and forever. We love you!
Sherry L. Williams 1985
May these five candles burn brightly in our lives now and forever. We will be forever grateful that we were blessed with you - if only for a brief time.
Missing you!!! / Amy Kresser (Sister)
Joshy- I'm sitting here trying to study for History of Rock and Roll (definitely a class you would love) and listening to Social Distortion and can't help of thinking about you. I miss my strong and funny brother, I miss the stupid jokes you would tell that really weren't that funny and the way you could always make me laugh even when I was extremely pissed off at you. I miss you so much every single day but the Holidays make my heart hurt even more than it does on regular days. I hate not having you around to eat Thanksgiving dinner and to have to slice open the bottom of my Christmas Gifts and tease me about what I got. I still sit in the family room once mom wraps the gifts and wait for you to come in and tell me everything i got. Remember that one year we really wanted a play station and mom and dad told us it was hooked on phonics and we were both so upset the whole time we were at Church. I hope you and Papou are taking good care of each other and that each day in Heaven is a bright and happy day and that you both are no longer in pain. Make sure to tell Papou that I miss him dearly and love him so much. Do me a favor please watch over mom and dad now more than ever Christmas is really hard for them. I know they both really need to feel your presence. I hope you know how much I love you and how much I miss you. I still carry regrets of the month we didn't and I wish I could take it back so I could have more memories of talking with you and laughing with you.
I love you so much Sweet Brother xoxox your Little Sis Close
Seeing you was hard to do!!! / Matthew Black (Best Friend )
Josh,
Man it was so hard seeing that on TV. I literally burst into tears. Suddely I was remembering all the good times, and some of the bad. I can never pick up a broomstick with out thinkin of you. Jerk! _______________________________
All misty within the slime
So comely beside the bullshit You taste transparent shivas below the dreamscape Whoa! The Knight has died We are heavy about the trees You prod glittering hands within the rain Alack! The end is done All misty within the slime You draw angry disasters near the earth Oh God! The fun will vanish shifting alive blurring at the edges the next life waiting With what hopes the victim wander aimlessly while the crowd watched
The deadly side of addiction..... / Sandra &. Layne Kresser (parents)Read >>
The deadly side of addiction..... / Sandra &. Layne Kresser (parents)
We have found out the hard way the deadly side of the disease of addiction. It stole our son from us and we will continue to do whatever we can to warn others of the dangers of prescription drugs.
Please educate yourselves to what these drugs really are. Don't accept them blindly from your doctor or anyone else as being safe. A wonderful resource that we have found is: www.prescriptionaddictionradio.com You can check out the website which is filled with very valuable information along with the other links that are listed there. You can also listen to the radio show live every Sunday night on the internet. The link to the radio station is also listed there.
Education is key in helping end this epidemic that we are in the midst of. Far too many wonderful lives have already been lost. Those of us left behind are changed forever.
I was remembering your's and Jake's very first Christmas. We dressed you in red Santa Claus outfits and you looked so sweet. I told Dad that I didn't want anything else for Christmas because I had already been so blessed with these two beautiful babies and that's all I needed. I had him take a picture of you and Jake under the Christmas tree.
The last Christmas that we spent with you was in 2005 and we went to Coronado. Those memories keep coming back to me and I remember you, me and Amy sitting in the car and we were singing the "12 Days of Christmas". You knew all the words and helped us so that we could sing the whole thing. We all laughed when you told us how bad we sucked! I smile when I look at the "12 Days of Christmas" tree that we got last year in your honor.
I know that you are okay and that you and Papou are spending Christmas with Jesus again this year but we love and miss you so much. You are and will forever be in our hearts.
A year in peaceful slumber / Vicki Predari (Family Friend )Read >>
A year in peaceful slumber / Vicki Predari (Family Friend )
Josh,
It saddens me that I never had the opportunity to meet you. Just hearing your family speak of you has shown me what a wonderful spirit you are. I also have a son that I almost lost to drug addiction so I know how painful that can be and how helpless it makes you feel as a parent. I know how deeply you are missed and loved by the people who's lives you've touched. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
I can not believe it's already a year since you left us for a better place,I felt your presence all day yesterday it was a sad day and a happy day knowing you are in a good place now. I wish you had been here for your's and Jake's birthday on saturday. I think about you each and everyday.
Happy birthday and tribute. / Timoléon Hatziathanasiou (Cousin, Friend, early years sidekick. )Read >>
Happy birthday and tribute. / Timoléon Hatziathanasiou (Cousin, Friend, early years sidekick. )
"I am merely a spirit in a body, who is made a body, and then will depart this body."- Joe Strummer
I only wish I could be writing a birthday wish right now.
The people we love most and also miss the most are those we know we will never be able to replace, those singular spirits and personalities that bless us for whatever amount of time they are meant to be present in our lives before departing. I’ve spent the last year since his passing hoping that I might be able to recognize something in somebody’s personality, words or even in a passing conversation that reminds me so thoroughly of my friend that the sense of grief over his loss would lessen at least a bit.
Josh is absolutely irreplaceable. And realizing this fact is as comforting as it is painful. He was a relative, but more significantly, he was my friend.
As I’m sure many who knew him well will be able to relate to, our relationship was one founded on both respect and severe sarcasm. In no way was it malicious, it’s just how he was and I appreciate that kind of character and humor a great deal. I knew that if we could each get a jab in within the first few minutes of meeting up, it’d be a good time, because it meant that things were comfortable. Josh certainly put up a hard shell at times and played tough, and he was, in ways, but he was also a sincere and kind person. His heart was in the right place. If he respected or cared about you, he had your back. He deserved much better than what he was dealt.
One of the last things I remember Josh saying to me was that we barely saw each other anymore and he had nothing to tease me about. Something about that statement was sad then, but it’s heartbreaking now, because there is never a time that I don’t wish that I was present enough, in whatever capacity would have been possible from across the country, to be on enough of the same page to be able to call randomly and pick up a conversation like no time had passed.
In the instances that I do have a silent conversation akin to prayer, it is in a very “to whom it may concern” manner, but many have become messages to Josh. We all have our ways of attempting to handle grief and pay tribute to those we are grieving. I only wish that I, and all around him could have offered more while he was still with us. The weight of his loss has yet to become easier to bear and the fact of his loss is beyond unfortunate. Perhaps it was meant to serve a purpose, to remind us to take nothing and nobody for granted, to help us to recognize our own faults or as a notice that we are in severe need of an alteration in our behavior and habits towards ourselves and/or others, but if this is the case, then I would like to let whatever force and spirit is responsible for these things know that the message has been received and it would be a greater blessing to have our friend and family back now, because this world is worse off without people like Josh in it to laugh at its absurdity and to remind everybody that every once in a while, it doesn’t matter how much of a burden we have to bear, we can put a record on, we can get an ill-advised tattoo, we can say something as ridiculous as possible and laugh and push back at all that negativity, and just enjoy life for a moment, because for the short amount of time he was here and before the worst of his problems took hold, Josh was full of life. I miss that the most.
I've seen Josh in dreams lately, visiting my neighborhood, reminding me that everything will be alright. One that I remember clearly involved us walking and him laughing at how I'll look crazy to everybody else talking to somebody they can't see. I said I was fine with that. He looked happy. He was dressed in black, very smooth and had to meet with some other spirits. He said that I could come along if I wanted to, but that if I hate opera, he'd have to warn me, because we were going to an opera house, to pick up somebody who would pass away, saying "it happens a lot. Friends, strangers, but a lot of older people are at these places, we make sure they get home safely, but I hated opera when I was alive, I really can't stand it now." That one sticks with me, his humor was there, and seeing him as a guiding spirit, or angel, whatever one wishes to call it, was absolutely fitting.
I remember calling you last year on your birthday; it was the last time we would speak to each other. You only had a minute because you were at the doctor's office and you said you would have to call me back. I’m sorry we never got to talk again, who knew what was going to happen the next day.
The memorial web site your mother set up in your memory is great, you can tell by the comments how much your family and friends loved you and how much they miss you. I only wish you knew and realized how much you were loved before you left us.
Thank you for being with me that night last November, after my surgery. I know that was you pushing on the bottom of feet, pushing me to get up, it felt like you were pushing for hours and that you were not going to let me come with you and Papou. Mom said, you were telling me it was not my time and that you were not ready to share Papou yet.
I know that you are now in a better place, that you are healthy in body and mind. I think of you and miss you everyday. I try to remember the happy days and not the days of you fighting your addiction, those are days I don’t care to remember.
You would be so proud of your Mom, she continues to write letters and do what she can to educate people about the dangers of prescription drugs. She was even on the radio with the mayor of Salt Lake City. I am very proud of her.
I hope you were with Tara when she passed and that you are now together again, too many young people are dying from these drugs.
I miss you! / Shandi Fernandez
I can't believe its almost been a year. I think about you everyday and remember all the good times we had. I miss you and love you.
Dear joshy!! i only met you once n think about u often!! that one time i met you u did touch my heart i'll ever forget how different you were from jake. That one time i met you was when i was picking or dropping off Tory at your house and you were talking wit jake your brother you loved every much! n you put a smile on my face people are right just gettin to meet you once n you cheered me up even though i wasn't sad. I can't believe it has almost been a year since your precious life in this world was taken i know you are every happy up there in heaven whatching over everyone you met and loved you were an amazing guy i miss forever think and miss you u will always be remembered by every life you touched even mine. Even though i only met you once and that was for an hour!!! you are forever with me i love you n miss you!!! whenever i hear angel's wings it reminds me of you and it always will! love you joshy rest in peace with your grandfather and all your friends and family who have joined you! forever in my heart love you forever joshy Sarah
i can't believe it / Tory Wojtasek (friend)Read >>
i can't believe it / Tory Wojtasek (friend)
Joshy, I can hardly believe it has been almost a year since you have been gone. even though i have only been friends with amy and family for a few years, i have so many fond memories of you. One that stands out right now is when Amy was having a problem with a friend, Jake (the rational one) told Amy to talk it out with the person. You on the other hand told her that you were going to beat him up, and promptly told amy and i that violence was only the answer when you were the one doing it for us. I hope that you are finally at peace now, and i pray for you and your family often. May your memory be eternal, Tory Close
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