One Christmas card stretched all the way around the world to bring a family together. Ashley Sistrunkwanted a great Christmas card with the entire family, just like everyone else. Problem was, her husband is currently deployed 7,000 miles away in Iraq. “I would see my friends posting their cute family Christmas photos and while I thought they were precious, my heart would get sad,” Sistrunk said, “I would think, ‘I wish we could have a family Christmas card photo!’”
When there’s a will (and Photoshop), there’s a way, right?
“I went to Pinterest and typed in ‘Christmas card ideas for military’ and saw a couple of different versions of photoshopped photos of military members and their families,” she said. “I wanted to put my own twist on it!”
She decided to take a photo of her and the four children with half of a “Merry Christmas” sign, while Brandon posed alone in Iraq with the other half. She then mashed the two photos together with computer magic and made one unforgettable holiday picture.
“We did a ‘normal’ Christmas photo and then a more quirky version since we’re a pretty silly family,” she said, explaining the adorably PDA-filled second card.
“We married in 2006 at the age of 18, and found out five weeks later that we were expecting our first child,” Sistrunk explained, “We quickly realized that the real world was hard and wasn’t free, so Brandon joined the military when I was six months pregnant.”
“My husband, Brandon, is one of the most kindhearted people on the planet,” the wife proudly explained, “He will do anything for anyone, including taking silly photos for a Christmas card.”
What’s almost better than the Christmas card are the outtakes of Brandon shamelessly kissing the air by himself to get the perfect shot. If that’s not a great husband, I don’t know what is.
“Deployments are hard and you can feel so alone,” she continued, “You’d be amazed at how strong military families are, but how sad you can get at the same time. We want other deployed families to know that the emotions they feel are normal.”
It’s great to see military families making things work during the holidays. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?
