Another boy battling leukemia mourns the loss of his friend

A young friend with a special bond watched with tear-stained face as Josh Thomas was carried away from Hazel River Assembly of God Thursday afternoon.

Family and friends turned out to mourn Josh, the Culpeper 9-year-old who succumbed Sunday to a 14-month battle with leukemia.

His young friend sat in a pew halfway down the aisle. He had no hair, bright red rings around his eyes from fresh tears, and he wore an orange ribbon for childhood leukemia.

"Today has been the hardest," his mother, Angie Edwards of Appomattox, said later near Josh's gravesite at Hillcrest Memory Gardens.

Her 8-year-old son Jacob, also battling leukemia, shared a hospital room with Josh for six months at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Jacob stood next to Josh's grave, picked up a clump of mud and threw it as hard as he could, then buried his face in his grandmother's stomach. A tear fell from his eye. He did not want to talk about Josh.

Jacob received his bone marrow transplant just 23 days after Josh. He is now in his 110th day after surgery.

Edwards described Josh as "fun-loving" and "energetic."
"Energetic-" Jacob said, looking at his mother. "What does that mean-"

"Y'all shook the floors up," she said.

Jacob cracked a half-smile and forced chuckle.
Edwards said seeing Josh jumping around and running through the halls with his IV gave her hope that Jacob would recover.

"He gave me strength," Edwards said.