When her husband was sent to Iraq five months ago, a mother-of-four was hurt she found out he would not be there to take Christmas pictures with them or attend the holidays with his kids. However, once a family friend shared the wife’s festive but lonely Christmas card on social media, people noticed something that made this go viral.

Like many military wives, Ashley Sistrunk knew the sacrifice that she and her four little ones would have to make because of her husband’s selfless service in the U.S. Air Force. Although living without their patron for months at a time is incredibly difficult, Ashley and the kids decided to make the best of their time this season by taking Christmas photos just like any other family might do.

Although Ashley Sistrunk and her four children are missing their deployed father this Christmas, he managed to make it into the annual holiday photos.

While posing in front of a mountainous backdrop in their home in Colorado Springs, Ashley and the children created a beautiful photo to add to their annual Christmas cards. Of course, each of their portraits was missing Brandon, Ashley’s husband who is deployed in Iraq until next month. Fortunately, a family friend saw the perfect opportunity to “unite” them all for Christmas once again.

KSAT reports that Ashley gave the photos to her mother, who then passed them on to a family friend to be Photoshopped. The final product was a couple of bittersweet edited pictures that reunite the family even though Brandon is thousands of miles away.

A family friend Photoshopped Brandon Sistrunk into his family’s Christmas photo, prompting thousand of social media users to voice their inspiration.

“It’s exactly how I wanted it,” Sistrunk told InsideEdition.com. “I’ve always wanted to be able to reach out to other military spouses and let them know that they aren’t alone in this.”

Ashely’s wish came true after thousands of touched viewers began sharing the inspirational photos on social media, according to KKTV.

“Having a piece of your heart across the world, fighting for your country. It’s just a whole other level of emotions,” Sistrunk said. “We tell the kids, ‘Yes, other kids have their daddy home right now.’ But their daddy is out being a superhero, keeping our country safe and that’s important … that’s an important job.”

This year’s Sistrunk Christmas card perfectly rolled the love, hope, and sadness all into one photo session which Ashley prays will give grieving military families the strength to make it through the holidays.

“You can feel mentally alone and emotionally alone even though you know that they’ll come back and you pray that they’ll come back. But hopefully them seeing that we’re getting through it, they can get through it too,” Ashley said. “I’m going to try not to cry. Just reading some of the comments of, ‘Oh that’s so cute,’ but also people feeling our sadness in it. But then seeing that we’re trying to put a positive spin on the holidays even though he’s not here.”

Brandon is scheduled to return home from Iraq next month, but thanks to a family friend, he didn’t miss this year’s Christmas card.

While so many Americans take for granted the blessings they have, the Sistrunks aspire to remind everyone not only that they are fortunate to spend each and every day with their family but also that our freedoms and luxuries don’t come free. Thousands of men and women are currently serving our country all over the world and will not get to spend the holidays with their loved ones. Even more devastating is the fact that some will never return home alive because of their ultimate sacrifice.

Our nation is in turmoil as millions in the U.S. believe that our military members are more of an oppressive force than individuals who have given up many of their rights and comforts to protect our own. As entitled, out-of-touch liberal elitists burn American flags and chastise our troops, these brave souls are silently defending their rights to do so.

Of course, these liberal snowflakes have never known the unending pain and suffering families go through to ensure that they regardless of how deeply they despise it, they are living in the greatest, freest country on earth.

These photos are not only a reminder of how grateful we should be to the men and women who serve, but show us that we are extremely lucky to have our own spouses, parents, siblings, and children home for the holidays. For that, we thank Brandon Sistrunk and every other service member who’s dedicated their lives to protecting us from enemies both foreign and domestic.

Photo Credit [KKTV]

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