On a Friday night last November, Joshua Silva took the stage at Out of the Loop, The Tyler Loop’s live storytelling event. He recounted a story about losing his sister and his fight at Robert E. Lee High School to end the r-word. This story brought me to tears every time Joshua practiced it. But that night, I couldn’t help but smile, seeing Joshua in his high school band uniform. He was in costume because, minutes after his story, he rushed from Liberty Hall’s stage to Rose Stadium for yet another performance, this time with his saxophone.
In that moment, no one could have predicted the months to come — how we all took for granted the crowding and congregating in theaters and stadiums. It is less surprising, though, that Joshua, now graduated, is still loving and learning from music.
Hearing how Joshua is coping with Covid was a breath of fresh air. Amid stories of loss and difficulty, Joshua provided a pandemic-related upside: time to regroup and put his heart back into the thing he loves.
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