In the Shadow's

Sometimes we wonder how Josh must feel following after his older siblings. All of us who have older siblings know how it feels....either for the good OR for the bad. He's grown up always being Jenny and Jon's younger brother.....same schools, same teachers....with them always having high expectations of him because of it. This year is no different. His first year in Marching Band and we had a few reservations. He is his own person, and would rather play outside building forts with the neighbor boy than to do scouting or the like. But....there are benefits to it as well. This year he got to take over the lawn mowing job Jon has done for 4 years. He loves the money!! AND this week band camp started. It's a grueling week for him (and me...all that driving) Each day there are 3 blocks. The morning block they march from 9-12. Afternoon block they practice their music from 1-4 and then evening block 5:30-8:30 they march again. I'm loving watching his progress. He started out a bit slow and under the weather from being with the scouts in Bend Oregon last week. He even missed a few blocks the first few days....which for all those who have been in marching band know is not an option!! The temperatures have top 100 degrees.....and all those PUSH UP'S!!
BUT...he is finding his stride. Here he is one afternoon when he came home for lunch. He got his mellaphone that morning and couldn't wait to play it some more. There are definitley benefits to being Jon's younger brother. They call him "Little Egan" or "Jon's little brother". Somebody told him he couldn't do something...only the seniors could do that, but then somebody else spoke up and said "It's okay he's Jons little brother". Another person told him he's equally as talented as Jon on the horn...it made him feel special:)
I ran into a boy from band who graduated last year and who has a job at Walmart and he said he had dropped in on the band and saw Joshua. He told me "You can tell they're brothers"
We are amazed at how fast he's picking up the marching. It's hard he told me, but it will all pay off in the end! Just what a mother wants to hear:)