Spending the holidays apart from your family can be hard.
Those of us here in 2020 know that better than most. So, let’s take a cue from this creative family and see what they did to feel a little closer to each other on Christmas — and find out what’s happened to the family since then!
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Meet Ashley Sistrunk.
She’s the wife of an airman who was deployed abroad in 2016.
Ashley was no stranger to being apart when she came up with her idea.
Her husband had been deployed for other monumental moments in their lives.
Ashley and her husband, Brandon, were used to being apart. Brandon had missed the birth of three of his four children, due to his service in the air force.
For Christmas, Ashley decided to try and bring Christmas to Brandon.
“Having a piece of your heart across the world, fighting for your country. It’s just a whole other level of emotions,” she told KKTV CBS in Colorado Springs, where the family lives.
So she put together a plan.
The first step was sending Brandon a pretty silly request: hold a sign that said “Merry” and pose as if he’s kissing her.
“You know your husband loves you when he’s willing to let someone take these kissing air pictures of him,” she wrote on Instagram.
Then, it was time to reveal her masterpiece!
Ashley Photoshopped together Brandon’s picture and one she and her children took at home in Colorado. The kids got goofy with it, which she said was, “more us.”
Their local news loved the story.
Ashley and her kids were all invited to their local news show to talk about how they created the picture, and what it’s like to not have Brandon home for Christmas.
From there, the card quickly went viral.
It resonated with many military families who were facing the exact same situation.
“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.”
It brought comfort to many American families.
“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 eventually returned home safely!
Brandon officially retired from the Air Force in 2017, after 11 years of service.
Four years after going viral, the family is together and thriving. Hopefully, they won’t have to spend another Christmas apart again.
What are you going to do for Christmas this year?
