Braden Lee Bush

   I usually don't discuss or write about people or personal issues that have had a profound effect on my emotions, until sometime after hearing the devastating news. I usually get choked up and can't speak or my eyes become bleary and can't write.
   The toughest, most stressful issue that teachers and public school officials deal with is the loss of a student or former student. In Blanchard Public Schools we have faced three of these emotional losses just this past year. Braden Lee Bush, a former student and athlete for Blanchard High School, died on June 16, while away at college. Braden suffered an asthma attack and died of heart failure. This news was a personal blow to me as well as the Blanchard Lion family, as it is the most devastating event ever to happen to a family. I can only imagine the heartbreak and sense of loss his parents must have felt as they attempt to continue. Ara (Rumpy) Bush and Tiffany Bush have given up their son to Heaven, but they will see him in the future. Braden was a true maroon and gold Blanchard Lion, graduating in 2014, where he played an integral part in the 2012 Blanchard football state championship and the Blanchard state runner-up team of 2013. I can still see Braden returning kick-offs and catching touchdown passes... in my mind.
   When a school loses a student it's like losing a child to teachers and principals, but not nearly so devastating as it is to the child's parents. I do know that Rumpy and Tiffany, and Braden's sisters - Bre-Ann and Bethany, have the strength, perseverance, and courage to deal with this tragedy. They know that all their friends and the Blanchard Lion family will be praying for them, and Braden Lee Bush.