Joshua Benjamin Goforth

Josh was tragically taken from us on April 21, 2010 in a car wreck. He was driving home from work and evidently fell asleep at the wheel, crossed the center line and slammed head on into an SUV. The other driver sustained injuries that were not life threatening and for that we are very grateful. We pray for the quick recovery for her and her family and are very sorry that their lives had to be disrupted also. But Josh was much more than simply a “traffic statistic”. He was a lot of different things to different people. He was a son. A father. A brother. A husband. And a friend to many. He had a very dry wit, made friends easily and could manipulate anyone to get what he wanted. He loved to read and Kurt Vonnegut was one of his favorite authors. In fact he had a phrase from the novel Slaughterhouse Five tattooed on his lower leg. He had to explain to many people that the phrase “So it goes” was not just something he thought of himself, but was actually a literary reference. He was also an aspiring writer and spent a lot of his free time writing and was working on a screenplay at the time of his passing. He was a complicated and independent child who grew into a complicated, independent and caring man. We members of his family are proud of who he was and what he became. He was a responsible, loving and engaged father of the light of his life, Dayde Benjamin Goforth who is two years old at the time of Josh’s passing. He and his wife, Aleigh were demonstrating to Dayde that love, tolerance, acceptance and positive compromise make a very strong relationship. He loved life and embraced it to the utmost. He was very proud of his heritage and family name. His brother, father and he had identical tattoos reading “GOFORTH” across their backs. One of the first gifts that his newborn son received was a blue jean jacket with “GOFORTH” scripted across the back, just like his dad’s tattoo. He was also very proud of the fact that he had been clean since September 11, 2009 thanks to the love, care and work with members of Narcotics Anonymous. He attended meetings regularly at the H.O.W. place and had many friends there. For those of you that are in a 12 step program and are concerned about breaching Josh’s anonymity, please be assured that Josh made his wishes well known to his family. If you still have a problem, please speak with your sponsor. If you don’t have a sponsor, get over it because you have bigger issues than this. He was a delight to be around and had a cute, yet annoying habit of watching movies and TV shows over, and over, and over, then repeating the lines to you mere SECONDS before the line was spoken on the screen. He thought it was great. Many found it annoying. At the time, I found it annoying. Now I miss it. Words cannot describe the shock and loss we are all feeling now. The real impact of his passing will only be felt in the coming days, months and years. Please keep his family and his young son in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. The only comfort we can draw at this time is that we firmly believe that he is going to “meet us in the clearing at the end of the path.” Those that were left behind include: John and Sue Goforth (father and mother), Aleigh Essex Goforth (wife and mother of his beautiful son), Dayde Benjamin Goforth (son, and absolutely, incredibly beautiful and smart), Brad Goforth (dear brother and “the rock” when Josh was having tough times), numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws and friends. Those that knew him will miss him horribly. Those that did not missed out on an incredible ride. We love you and miss you more that you will ever know. Please join us in celebrating Josh’s life at a memorial service at 11:00 AM on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors, 12050 Crabapple Rd., Roswell, 770-645-1414.

Joshua Benjamin Goforth

August 25, 1980 - April 21, 2010