New blog from Joe

Joe posted a new blog at nkotb.com:

Family

As most all of you know, I have been blessed to have my family come along for this amazing journey. I would not have been able to miss my son at this special time in his life- his first steps, his first words and on and on.

My wife was a Rock Star through it all. It is no joke raising a little baby on the road, but she handle it with style and grace. In the end it was all worth it. We felt there was no substitution for being together. And Griffin loved every minute- from helping the caterers to idolizing the Jabbawockeez. What amazing memories we will have forever to look back on.

Family is the great chill pill on the road, the great equalizer, the humanizer. It was such a blessing to see the other guys with their kids. Danny’s girl were so sweet and would not let you walk by them without giving you a hug- even if they saw you, literally, 20 seconds earlier. Donnie’s son Elijah became a kind of life coach in our dressing room before the show- asking honest disarming questions with his dad’s charm.

After all he got Jon Knight to sing Step 5- the Holy Grail of pop music.

After Jon sang Step 5 one night on the summer tour, Elijah was ready to try it himself. A touching scene when Jon and Jordan and Elijah went over to the “warm up” keyboard just before show time to practice singing “Don’t you know the time has arrived!?” I caught it all out of the corner of my eye and could feel the easy love of the whole thing. Kids break you down to your purest simplest way. And we all naturally reached out to them when they were out on the road.

It is now common knowledge that Elijah nailed Step 5 and is now a seasoned pro with the mic. The apple sho nuf doesn’t fall far from the tree. Jordan said on the cruise that he would want his son to play him in a movie. Wise choice- Dante is as cool as his dad and a natural on the piano. (We got a little taste of his skills in the dressing room when we were in New England).

Through it all, we are a family. 5 brothers and a million sisters. We laugh, we cry, we play…I argue with everyone- USED TO argue with everyone…

It still isn’t time to write the history of this group. There’s too much love in the tank and we got places to go and people to meet. Where, how, and when, we will eventually know. Whatever it is, we will be held together by the fabric weaved together by our parents years and years ago. A quilt that grows and grows- so dazzling, so spectacular, the likes of which the world has never scene.

Let’s watch this!

-jm