Brad Arms (1984-2004) We miss you!

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Brad Arms passed away 7 years ago today, and oh, how we miss him.  He was a smiley, fun, passionate, and kind kid.  Steven and I had the privilege of going to school and church with Brad growing up.  Brad was an incredibly hard worker, a great athlete, and a kind friend.  He was always thinking about other people and was willing to put himself below others in order to care for them.  Brad went to Georgia for College (where we heard he was quite the ladies man...but look at that picture and I am sure you can see why) and he also served in the US Marines.  He was strong, both in mind and body.  He was passionate, and that passion is what led him to sacrifice his life in order to save the life of a fellow marine while serving in Iraq.  We are so proud of him, and we miss him.  When Brad died, Steven and I were not dating.  But in going to Brad's funeral, and spending time with each other and other high school friends after his death, we were reminded of how much we cared about each other.  Shortly after his death, we started dating again and we definitely attribute so much of our getting back together to Brad.  We are so grateful for him.  And our gratefulness is what led us to name our son, Braden after Brad.  He was named for Brad.  While it is not his exact name, his name is intended to be in memory of him, because we love him, are proud of him, and hope that our son (and family) can learn from him and can one day grow into the passionate, loving, and Godly man that Brad was.  (update: How we chose Braden: The etymology of -en is that it is a "Suffix meaning 'pertaining to', 'having the qualities of', 'like'" (site).  We hope that Braden can grow up to have the qualities of Brad, hence, Brad-en)  .Thank you, Brad, for blessing us with your life and death.  Thank you, Bob and Betty Arms for sharing your sweet boy with us.  We miss you, love you, and are so incredible grateful for you, Brad Arms.

Bob and Betty Arms came to meet Braden a few days after he was born. 

Braden is already starting to resemble his name sake.  He is smiley, ambitious, and strong.  We look forward to telling Braden more and more about Brad as he gets older.