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Phillips family photo album
This baby photo was taken at our home in Allentown, PA (where Josh
was born in 1984). He was three months old in this picture and was
such a happy baby. He was a real pleasure; the light of my life.
Steve and I were going through a difficult time financially; he'd
just been permanently laid off from his job due to downsizing at
Bethlehem Steel. But, Josh was our joy that kept us going.
Josh was a
little over a year old. The bear is an AG Bear that growls when you
talk to it. It was one of Josh's favorite stuffed animals, and I
still have that bear in Josh's room. The year of the photo was 1985,
and we were living in Vermont; this particular photo was taken on
one of our many drives to Pennsylvania to visit Josh's grandparents
(my parents - my mother died six months after my husband in 2000)
At
the age of five, Josh's father thought it was time for Josh to have
his first dog. We were living in Wilkes-Barre, PA and it was a
lovely spring day when we went to find Josh a puppy. He was adamant
that it be a male so he could name it Bart after Bart Simpson. But
when we stood in front of the puppy pens, this little fuzzy female
could not take her eyes off of Josh. Next to her was her brother,
but he didn't seem much interested in us. Then the little girl puppy
raised her paw as if to say, "Please choose me." And, so Josh did.
I'll never forget him carrying her out to the car; her little tail
was wagging furiously beneath Josh's arm. On the way home, with Josh
and his new puppy in the backseat, he lifted her up under her little
arms and declared, "And her name shall be Toots!"
I
can still picture them in my mind; I'd go check on Josh before going
to bed and Toots would be stretched out across the top of the bed
and Josh's head would be resting on her side, using her as his
pillow. She was a wonderful dog, but died of pulmonary disease in
1997.
Josh was about four
years old in this picture. It was taken in the fall in the yard of
the home we rented in Rutland, VT.
He was an active
little boy and getting clear photographs was sometimes difficult as
he was always on the move. He was a happy, talkative child and knew
no strangers.
I shot this
photograph in the Hartford, CT science center. We'd caught a train
from a small village in VT to Hartford just for a family day trip
one weekend. Josh very much enjoyed the science center and tried
just about everything there was for a child to do. He always liked
going to zoos, museums and science centers, even at a very young age.
Josh and his dad. I
snapped this photo at our home in Rutland, VT. Josh was three and a
half and adored his dad. They did many things together as Josh was
growing up and Josh looked forward to special outings with just he
and his father.
Vermont: Josh was three years old and loved going to the park. We
lived within walking distance of two really nice ones, and we went
just about every day after I got home from work. There was a full
lunar eclipse one night, and Steve, Josh and I walked in the middle
of the night down to this particular park, where we all sat on the
swings to watch the nighttime display. It was fascinating, and
although Josh was quite young, he does still remember doing that
with us. One of the things that never failed to amaze me was Josh's
uncanny ability, even at a very young age, to know he was to play
differently with little girls than he did with little boys. With
little girls, he instinctively knew somehow that he was to be
gentler in his play. When he played with little boys, it was rough
and tumble play. I never knew how he grasped this concept from so
early an age. And, he acted differently with adults, as well;
relating on a more mature level with them than with the children.
This was a grand day for Josh's Dad,
Steve.
This photo was taken on the occasion
of Josh's graduation from kindergarten and the high school
graduation of Steve's first two sons, Benjamin and Daniel.
This is Josh
posing in in his Cub Scout uniform on the front porch of our home in
Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Joshua is 13 years old in this
photograph, posing with some of his pet birds. The little blue
parakeet looking at the camera was his first bird, and pretty soon,
we were all hooked on having birds as pets. We would acquire three
more after this picture.
This was one of the last pictures
taken of Josh before his arrest in November of 1998. It was taken in
our backyard pool with his pet beagle, Beauregarde.
This is another favorite picture of
mine from our family album. This shot was taken on Mother's Day,
1996 when Josh was 12. He was so excited to do something special for
me for Mother's Day. He had arranged (with his dad's help) a river
boat luncheon cruise and was so pleased to have an opportunity to
dress up in a suit and tie just for me.
Josh on his 17th birthday (St.
Patrick's Day 2001) and me at the prison visitation park.
Josh (just a month away from his 19th
birthday, Feb. 2003) and his half brother Daniel.
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