Joshua Mark Cordner

I love my nephew Josh. I really love him! He was born April 30, 1990, just at the end of my senior year in high school. He is the first of my parents' 24, soon to be 25, grandchildren. We were all absolutely crazy about him! The Cordner side was equally crazy about Josh! Mark, my brother-in-law, had only one married sibling, Corinne, when he and Naomi got married. Corinne's family lives in Georgia. She already had kids, but since they have always lived so far away Josh was like the only grandchild on his dad's side of the family. He loved the attention he got, and he made all of us so happy! Sadly, Mark and Naomi were both attending BYU when Josh was born so none of us got to see him as much as we would have liked. I was lucky to be able to see Josh at least once a month until Redge and I got married in 1994, and moved back to Las Vegas. When we moved to Vegas Redge and I lived in Naomi's ward, and I still never felt like I got enough of my J-Man.

The one thing I can say I don't love about Josh, well, it's pretty okay now, but I really didn't like the name Joshua. I mean I really didn't like it. I begged Naomi not to name him that, but she did it anyway. But, I couldn't bring myself to call him that, so I took to calling him, "J-Man." I got the nickname from the movie, "Say Anything." Lloyd Dobler called his nephew, Jason, J-Man. I liked it, I stole it, and I still use it.

Josh is incredible. I really like him. He really is a fantastic human. I rather fancy being his aunt. He, on the other hand, most probably would prefer to do without me. Too bad for him, I'm not going anywhere. Josh has so many great qualities, but I'll just share my 3 faves.

1~ He is quite possibly the most patient person on this Earth! You should see him with his brother, sister, and cousins. He was the only grandchild in our family until he was 3 1/2. I know that sounds young, but after reading my second reason for being Josh's number one fan you'll understand that 3 1/2 years to Josh was more like 7 years to the average kid. At any rate, some might think Josh would have been jealous of all the babies that started coming around, but he couldn't love them any more had his life depended on it. He is so kind, patient, caring, and truly loving toward all the little kids. Each of them think they are the absolute favorite of the much adored Josh.

2~ The kid is brilliant! I'm so totally not kidding. I love talking with him, hearing his views, and discussing literature with him. He has an incredible sense of humor, and is extremely humble regarding his many talents. He earned the highest ACT score of anyone I know, and he never took a single, "How to Ace Your College Entrance Exams," course, nor did he spend any extra time studying. He also received several scholarships to various colleges. The kid makes me feel like a 3rd grader.

3~ He is so talented! Not many people know this, but he can do anything! He earned his black belt in karate, he snowboards, he plays the drums, he builds and designs all kinds of stuff (he has saws and all kinds of power tools,) and he is a very talented photographer. I love his work! I'm hoping that he will soon add some of his work to this post. I emailed him, and begged him to add some of my faves. It is really hard to choose just a few. If you haven't seen his website you really should check it out!

At any rate, I love Josh.