Though with this story and stories to come, we will be sharing some of Joshua's Joys. They are all intertwined with sickness and many times horrors. By this time in his life, because of the injuries he had sustained, he was constantly having to go to the chiropractor. And was blessed enough to find a family physician named Dr. Ludwig, who was a retired military doctor who served in Korea. A man who knew so much as he had once told Joshua that he had performed over 1000 surgeries on wounded/injured soldiers in a 24 hour period. An old school man's man standing about 6'8'' and weighing about 350lbs. Though he had helped Joshua in many ways. The testing available at the time, mainly the technology, was not available. Though many of his family members were plagued with illness, and Joshua had many of the same symptoms, because his family were very selfish people, was not a consideration or was really ever noticed the problems that he was suffering. And though at this young age he was a man in his own right, and children are resilient.
There was no way possible with him to associate any of these things with severe illnesses. Which makes what he has accomplished that we will be sharing that much more powerful and inspirational. Because the illness, the gifts, success, that he had and has accomplished, though for him it's simply joys, these two things must be intertwined to understand how hard he had to work and push to accomplish what he has in his life by understanding the illnesses that he had and has. He has worked hard for so many things, but has never been able to get to the place where he needs to be and the rest of the world needs to see.
And to make it clear, many of the people in Joshua's story will be left out for they are far to personal and far too painful for even us to speak about let alone write about. And that is not what this page is about. As of the next few stories of his life, we will be talking about wonderful strides he had made, the unbelievable accomplishments, yet the nightmares of being sick and the people around him that have hurt him so tremendously there is no reason why he should be alive today. Injury after injury, sickness after sickness, beating after beating, want to emphasize on what he has done for himself, but mainly for others. Always helping and changing people's lives for the better.
He cared nothing of fame, money, or being on tv as he grew up in a different time, all he wanted to do was play professional basketball. Though Joshua's always made right choices, based upon morality, faith, discernment and purely the heart that he was given. Being such a convicted, but beaten down young man, what you will see is how other people and situations in life can affect someones life so drastically that it can be ended. How much people can push if they truly care for themselves and for others. As a Christian, living his life in faith.
All the stories now, and to come, he and our team hope shows, how from the simplest thing to the biggest thing, can affect a person's life. Their heart. Their spirit. Hopefully, helping people to build, not to destroy. As what he had grasped early on, is how the smallest thing in an individual's perspective, can change the life of another person's drastically. Again, destroying their life, or bettering them.
At 12 years old, in 6th grade, Mr. Graves, Joshua's school counselor, had taken his class went to visit an airforce base. There they were walked through the programs that they had to offer, and were encouraged to take the very same tests that their Airforce recruits were required to take. Joshua blew them away, not just with one test, but acing all of them. They invited him to try their Airforce simulator which the fighter pilots use to train on. He aced this program as well.
At this age he stood 4'10" and wore glasses due to eye conditions called conjunctivitis and photo-sensitivity. During the day he would often have to wear sunglasses to protect his eyes from the brightness of light, and at night his eyes would often glow from the over sensitivity to take in light, even in the dark. The diseases would make his eyes twitch very badly and give him facial ticks. He had prescription eye drops, as his eyes would produce no natural tears. He dreamed of being a fighter pilot, but at the time, with his glasses, it was not a possibility.
At the age of 13, Joshua had grown into a very attractive young man. He excelled at every sport and had the honor of walking down the "senior hall" not just without any bullying, but with the support, encouragement and friendship of the senior boys, and the flattery of the senior girls. The girls would surround his and tousle his hair, and comment on what a lady killer he would be when he got older.
Joshua has always excelled in athletics. Every sport he excelled in, he pushed himself beyond the limits that even he imagined until he was known as the golden boy of his area. But this was not a term that he embraced or was proud of, because his quest was always to better himself. But his athletic passion was basketball. During his 8th grade year he scored 51 points in one game, breaking records, and led his tea
m to go on to score over 90 points together. He broke national records with a quadruple double; scoring 51 points, performing 12 steals, getting 15 rebounds and 11 assists.
At the end of his 8th grade year went to see an eye doctor. His eyes had corrected themselves. When he showed up at school Mr. Graves, his semi-retired school counselor, and asked Joshua if he had gotten contacts. Joshua replied, "No, my eyes corrected themselves. I have 20/10 vision now."
When Mr. Graves had seen and heard this, he was elated for Joshua. Mr. Grave's son was the captain of a nuclear submarine. He loved the military and immediately set up an opportunity for Joshua to fly in a military helicopter and, what is a gunship, gave Joshua the stick to fly himself for about 5 minutes. As everyone watched, Joshua got to fly over their local areas, basically confined within a few square miles. But by this time, he had already given his heart over to basketball.
He spent hours and hours after working a laborious job, sometimes up to 12 hours a day during the summer practicing; even when school started, into the winter months sometimes playing so late into the evening, he'd play by just a solitary street light. And many times, not having a light at all using only the light of the moon. When he became a freshman in high school he grew to 5'1". He was asked to move up to varsity, but he turned it down because he did not feel he had anything to contribute/for the team; and he also felt that it would cause problems with his classmates who were not offered this opportunity. With these factors combined, it did not seem like the best decision for the time.
Coming into his sophomore year, throughout the summer, he had played almost 1000 hours of basketball and shot up to a height of 5'8" though still short in the world of basketball. As he came into the first open gym, he stole the ball from an opponent, took off from the corner of the free throw line and dunked it. He would stretch religiously, even hanging from the clothes line bar, hoping he would grow. He would do hours of exercises to increase his jumping ability, but what also helped was his Uncle Vinny, who was in the Navy, and introduced Joshua to martial arts. By this time he had already reached a black belt in Tai Kwon Do, a brown belt in judo, and had been long into his quest of mastering the art of Jeet Kune Do.
But Joshua always felt as though something were missing. He'd say, 'I feel like I need a guitar in my hand.'
Throughout his young life he was groomed by another man who was a coach, a teacher and a mentor to Joshua. That man's name was Mr. McNally. He had coached college and professional teams in both football and basketball. Mr. McNally started Joshua out, at a young age, managing the teams. Helping both he and the players out in both football and basketball. He would always encourage Joshua, and often ask him to demonstrate something for the older kids to watch.
Joshua's sister was an All State, which later turned into All American, track sprinter; because of this it was expected out of him as well. Joshua ran track, overlapped running cross country with playing football, and of course his passion, basketball. Mr. McNally had groomed Joshua to be his golden boy. He had planned to retire once Joshua had graduated; however, his wife became very ill, forcing Mr. McNally to retire when Joshua was just a freshman in high school; bringing on chaos into the school with coaches coming in and out all the time as well as teachers to fill the void.
Even with these hiccups, Joshua was still recognized as one of the two best high school basketball players in the United States. At only 5'8" he was barely beat out for the number one spot by Chris Webber, who was his friend and ended up going on to play professional basketball. Joshua was rated just under Chris, though Chris was a full foot taller. Joshua had broken records in dunks per game, points, assists, rebounds and steals. He played with migraines that plagued him almost daily, and had severe hypoglycemia; having no idea at the time the autoimmune diseases that plagued his body, not to find out until years later.
As many at this time looked to one man for basketball, Joshua did as well. This was, of course, none other than Michael Jordan. Though gifted in the style of how Michael played, he also learned and patterned his game after Michael Jordan; and his professional behavior both on and off the court. As Joshua was everything Michael at this time, he had heard of the same situation with height happening to MJ and the love and desire they both had for the game of basketball. When Joshua was young, doctors had told him that he's supposed to be 6'6", which as a young man like Joshua, made him elated; because that was and is Michael Jordan's height. Though he eventually grew to well over 6'3", at 5'8" he was capable of doing anything and everything Michael Jordan could do. For all those who remember MJ, every dunk that he was doing, Joshua was doing as a sophomore at only 5'8".
As Joshua had foot problems, specifically trouble with his arches, it was very difficult to find a pair of shoes. Also the fact that he had very large feet and very large hands. Being able to palm the ball when only at 5'1". As his team wore the same shoes, and Joshua was given the number 23, he was also allowed to be the only player on the team to wear Air Jordans, at this time called Hare Jordans. These were one of the many pair of Michael Jordan shoes he had owned over the years. As stated earlier, Joshua was everything Michael Jordan, owning over 50 hats, 25 t-shirts, a dozen warm up suits, and every pair of Michael Jordan shoes that had ever come out. All Nike Air Jordan clothing. As many would say it was an obsession, Joshua would say, 'it's not an obsession when it's healthy.' Convicted as just a young man.
Practice
By the end of Joshua's sophomore year, he had broken a multitude of national records. Though his team's success and camaraderie was more important; his abilities and his team would only get better in the years to come. One of the records that Joshua had broken at 5'8"and just turning 16 January 14th of his sophomore year, was that he had broken the national dunk record for one game. In one game he had dunked 9 times. Which was quite an achievement for him, as it would be for anyone. He very proudly held that record; until three days later his good friend, Chris Webber broke it by only one dunk. (We must add again; that Chris Webber was a foot taller and almost two years older than Joshua)Though mainly a one footed jumper, Joshua was measured jumping off of two legs as having a 51" vertical.
When Joshua was a teenager, he was out cutting firewood with his family and a friend. In a hollowed out log were seven or eight baby raccoons; maybe two days old. Joshua's friend reached in and grabbed one. As Joshua yelled out, 'Don't do that!' knowing that once the scent of a human was on the raccoon, the mother would not accept it back. They left for the day.
As they came back the next morning, it seemed as though all of the raccoons had been taken to a new place by the mother, which was a relief to Joshua who is a pure animal lover. He heard a chirping noise. Instinctively knowing it was that baby raccoon. He looked around. And embedded in leaves, was the raccoon left behind. Not even having it's eyes open yet. Joshua had already decided to take the raccoon home.
As work had to be done for the day, they could not just leave and tend to the raccoon. So Joshua made a little bed for it in the truck. Every hour or so, soaking an earplug with water, so that the raccoon could drink. And as he named it Rocky, Rocky would nibble and suckle on the earplug. He raised that raccoon from just a few days old. It lived with his teeny beagle, Sparky, out in a very large shed that was converted into a home just for those two. At night time, they would put him in a small cage, but during the day, Rocky and Sparky were free to roam the 1 acre lot of property. Rocky was lovely. Joshua would chase him around the yard and Rocky would run sideways almost as if taunting Joshua. The cutest thing however was that Rocky had learned how to bark by mimicking Joshua's dog, Sparky. The best impression that Joshua has ever heard. (Joshua often states that Rocky could do the best Christopher Walken impersonation.)
Rocky was very intelligent. He loved to climb up on people's heads. His favorite two treats were popcorn and red licorice. Though he had OCD, as all raccoons do. He had to have two different bowls of water. One to drink out of, and because of the OCD, every time Rocky would take a bite of food, he would have to wash his hands and we mean EVERY time. Dipping them in water and rubbing them together and repeating. And yes, raccoons do have opposable thumbs. Many a time, Sparky, Joshua's cat Spook, and Rocky would all lie together with Joshua on his bed at nighttime.
Having many pets over the years, dogs, cats, a snow owl, a bird that would talk and play cards, and loved to make fun of people, and even a porcupine. Rocky was an amazing gift from God. Joshua would walk around town with Rocky, not on a leash, just walking next to him as he would go into random stores and everybody loved to see his raccoon.
One day, Rocky had gotten out of his cage. A neighbor had caught him in a live trap. Rocky had went wild. Most likely having hunted and once doing so, that had brought out Rocky's original nature. Joshua and his father decided it was best to take him out to the wild. At this time his father had owned 43 plus acres of wooded area. Having a cabin they had built together. They took Rocky out to the woods, pulled up to the cabin, let Rocky go. He ran about 20 yards, ran up a tree, and looked back at Joshua for about 10 seconds. Ran back down the tree and ran into the wilderness. As Joshua's heart was saddened, this momentary glimpse into the eyes of his beloved pet healed his heart. Playing itself out just like a movie.
Several times throughout the latter years Joshua had encountered Rocky. And was even able to hold and pet him again. One of the joys of his life. Our team is searching for the pictures of Rocky to give an idea of how wonderful, and what a sense of humor this special raccoon had. As years have went by, it is most likely that Rocky has passed. But never in the heart of Joshua.
Joshua is an old school man's man. What many would call a horse of a man. But these anecdotes are a glimpse into his heart. Even through his tremendous illness, throughout so many years, he has been able to keep that balance of being strong and convicted, but living his life with and for love. A man of his word, living honestly with dignity and integrity. We all have hardships, and wonderful experiences. That's what this page is all about. We all have a story. We believe here, on the GSET Team, that sharing your story not only gives you a platform and forum to be heard, but allows you to find balance through your voice; giving you true freedom and discernment through, by, and of the Spirit.
We have now launched our facebook page. Please feel free to Like us, and also to submit your stories here as well. Thank you for continuing on this journey with us!
Joshua Jet Vaughan and the Voice of God will be releasing an album version of Driving South Soon. This rare live version was recorded while Joshua was in remission. It took a month to perfect it note for note, as they do several SRV covers when playing live. Whenever vocals are involved; word for word, SRV's phrasing, guitar, bass and drums, note for note, beat for beat. For this is one man and one band that must be honored this way, trying to do SRV and his band Double Trouble justice and pay their respects.
As Joshua's band had played a few SRV songs throughout the night, this was the encore. Joshua played the guitar/ lead, his wife Anna Bella Vaughan is playing bass, and his cousin Jackson Smith is on drums. Putting the power back in power trio. Enjoy!
As with most musicians, typically they have OCD, or as Joshua would say OCB, Obssessive Compulsive Behavior, Musically he is prodiguous and a phenom. Through years of sickness he has not been happy with many of the vocal performances, til the age of 34 during his remission where everything that he had worked for had finally came to fruition. So until his album is released, much of the music that we share will not have vocals. With a variety of songs on his album, not just blues, with trying to produce other songs that he has recorded, making it a double disc/cd release. Originals and remakes from songs like Just a Gigalo, to No Sugar Tonight, and many others of this style and nature and of course his true passion the blues. Through personal conversation with Joshua, at this point he had finally felt that again he had achieved what he had been working so hard for. After his album is released, due to his wishes, many other songs that have been recorded will be released that have vocals on them. As there have been times as of late that it has been difficult for him to sing because of his illness. Personally, Joshua feels that once the album is released, it will show truly what he is capable of vocally and in all aspects musically. About the time of remission he was still not at his best, but this is where he felt he was at his most confident. And will be heard for what he truly sounds like and who he truly is using his music as an example and platform. Simply stating, that after the release of his album, he will be heard for the gifts that he has been given and the hard work, then allowing other recordings to be released to show the difference that his illness has made in his life in a negative and positive way, in this case specifically musically helping to give people an understanding of himself, but also knowing that others will be able to relate and in all fields and all walks of life, many people struggle through the same obstacles. Having peace knowing that they have reached their goals, as we all want to be seen and show our true selves. Also this is one of the times that he has felt the best in his life to where his passion can truly shine through. Though, truly his health was only about 35%, it is enough to give him peace and satisfaction. For in music is one of very few professions that you must be confident and vulnerable at the same time. Allowing yourself to live pure righteous emotion.
Joshua's wife, Anna Bella, recorded Joshua's Warm up while in the studio yesterday on her phone. She sent us the link so we can post it here, so everyone can hear the amazing talent of this man. He doesn't know that it's posted yet. Surprise recording.
And to make it clear, many of the people in Joshua's story will be left out for they are far to personal and far too painful for even us to speak about let alone write about. And that is not what this page is about. As of the next few stories of his life, we will be talking about wonderful strides he had made, the unbelievable accomplishments, yet the nightmares of being sick and the people around him that have hurt him so tremendously there is no reason why he should be alive today. Injury after injury, sickness after sickness, beating after beating, want to emphasize on what he has done for himself, but mainly for others. Always helping and changing people's lives for the better.
