What's in a name?

 

 

 

 

Ethan is a Hebrew name meaning ever-flowing or perennial.  It's used to describe rivers that never run dry and as a metaphor for God's never ceasing mercies.  The name is often translated as "strong" or "firm" and as "gives strength to the troubled."  We felt it was good fit as our love for him is ever-flowing and he will forever be in our hearts and thoughts.  "Troubled" seemed an apt description of our current state; he forever changed us -- made us better people and we are looking to draw strength from the experiences during the too-short period we had

him in our lives.

 

 

Joseph is another Hebrew name meaning "God increases."  In sending us a son not only did God increase the size of our family, but the size of

our hearts.  Joseph is also the name of Brian's maternal grandfather; Brian's middle name is Leonard to honor him. Little Ethan looked so much like Brian that we thought using Joseph as a middle name was a nice tie-in, using the same person as the source for

both of their middle names.  Brian was very close to his grandfather and still uses many of his little sayings -- aka grandpa-ism's -- in normal conversation.  Using them now feels like paying tribute to both Josephs

and keeping them both alive in our memories.