This guy... Never have I ever met someone who was more focused and determined than Josh Diehl. When it came to to literally and metaphorically "Going The Distance", this guy could make it look graceful and as easy as walking to the kitchen. As a kid, we grew up in the absolutely gorgeous area known as Springfield Township in Pennsylvania. Josh lived down on Passer rd,a mile or so away from my home. Between our houses was a utility easement, which acted as our personal highway between friends houses, being that all of us kids in the neighborhood seemed to grow dirtbikes out of our legs, and the king of the township didn't like these mutants on the paved roads. Almost everyday, during summer vacation, Josh, a handful of other neighbors and myself would meet up to ride the pipeline, build forts and play paintball/ airsoft and build "MX tracks" throughout our small colony.
Josh also loved bicycling growing up. As kids, before we were able to drive obviously, Josh and I would bicycle to the Subway in Coopersburg to get sandwiches. Other times, Josh would talk me into all day riding events, which would leave me sore for days, all the while Josh would bounce back after a night of sleep, seemingly unaffected by the prior day's tour. He just never got tired. And you'd never find him inside, unless he's eating or sleeping, you could almost guarantee he wasn't in the house. Josh absolutely loved being outside, and if given the opportunity, I was almost certain he'd be the happiest man on Earth, living in a cabin, with his dogs, somewhere deep in the wilderness.
Josh was also a very strong personality. The man had a plan, and he stuck to it, never ceasing to improve himself in everyway possible. To this day I will never understand why anyone would want to run 30 miles a day, but he did, and made it look easy, and after a 10 minute conversation with him about it, would make me start to want to run a marathon.
More than anything else though, I will say that this family is one of compassion and understanding, Throughout all of theb times that I had spent with Josh, was a difficult time in my own life. As a friend, Josh was a figure of inspiration to keep going and stay focused on the positive and above all else, stay constantly pushing to be a better person. Being able to spend the countless amount of days, with such a driven family unit, had altered the path of which I was headed , and ultimately is a huge part of who I am today.
Josh had as spontaneity to him, especially when it involved some sort of adventure. We never really had any clue what he had planned, but we always knew it'd be fun. If this absense of Josh is any sign of that, then wherever he is now, he's definitely having a damn good time.