Brandon Sistrunk, a father of four, is a staff sergeant in the Air Force, and he is currently deployed in Iraq. Because of the sacrifice, he has made for his country, he couldn’t be home with his wife and kids for the holidays.
His wife Ashley, located in Colorado Springs, decided he would still be in the card, even if she had to take a big creative leap forward.
Ashley’s mother took a photo of her and the kids, and a military friend took a picture of Brandon. With some edits in Photoshop, she was able to stitch the two images together pretty seamlessly.
Ashely admitted to KKTV that having a husband in the military brings with it some big sacrifices, but that she wouldn’t change it for the world.
“Having a piece of your heart across the world, fighting for your country. It’s just a whole other level of emotions.”
“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.”
She offered more insight on her Instagram page.
“I hate wanting to wish away a holiday. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, but with Brandon gone and the kids begging to have him home on Christmas, it just won’t be the same. I know we are supposed to ‘live for today!’, but I wish I could wake up tomorrow and have it be late January!”
Brandon is set to come home to his family in early 2017.
“[The kids] adore him. He will do anything for them. So I miss him actually being able to come home at the end of the day and they yell ‘Daddy!’”
