Matt Riggs: My memories of Jos go back as far as I can remember, to the earliest years of elementary school...Never have I met such a positive, resilient personality, someone who could truly light up a room with his presence. I suppose I remember him in three stages; the early years, the high school years (when he became the ultimate girl-magnet that he was!) and then the adult Jos, a man I did not know until the wedding of Andrew and Amy.
In many ways I recall Jos as the classic little brother to Andrew; always curious as to what antics we were up to, smiling and happy to chat & get involved. I suppose one way that he was anything but the classic little brother is if he picked up on anything suspicious (i.e. strange sounds from the attic) we could rest assured that the knowledge would stay with him while we may have played the keep-away-of-info game, he was always trusted by all of us in that way. Maybe that just means a lot to me (it certainly did then) because in my situation I had to use more caution around my own sibling than I did my own parents -- I always respected Jos for being cool like that.
I remember when Jos bought an old electric guitar & amplifier from me, a little amp and a decent instrument. Little did I know that he would take to that guitar like Andrew used to take to keyboards -- a learning curve that could climb El Capitan with ease. I remember climbing the stairs to Andrew's room one day not long thereafter and stopping to think "wait, is that really Jos?" Low and behold that boy was sounding good on guitar; but then he excelled at everything else he did, playing music was no exception. I remember feeling bummed out that he decided to put the guitar down in favor of other things (such as real jobs/professions, things that can actually bring one success!) but he surely found his place.
I'll never forget when I first saw Jos @ Andrew & Amy's wedding. My that boy grew fast! It seemed to me like he had grown like a beanstalk overnight, but then time had passed. What I loved most was despite the fact that he was now taller, tougher & more handsome than I, the young Jos that I always knew was still there 100%. He still put me at ease in the same way, and drew me in to his fun, youthful way of looking at the world -- and more than anything how to appreciate not just every minute of the day, but everyone that one encounters in it that day... and most importantly how to spread that smile back on their face! And I'll always remember how proud he was of Andrew and Amy, and how overjoyed their love made him.