I love having the opportunity to see people I haven’t seen in ages, meeting their families and hearing each of their stories.
Friday evening, I spent time with Stephanie and her three children. We went to high school together waaaaay back when, but hadn’t seen each other since graduation.
Throughout high school she worked part-time as a carhop at the local Sonic in town. Some time after high school, Sonic ended up bringing more than a paycheck into Stephanie’s life. It’s where she met and fell in love with her husband. Aaron was a young Air Force officer on his first duty assignment at Little Rock AFB. He came through the drive thru one day, Stephanie slipped her number on a napkin in his bag and the rest, as they say, is history.
It’s been over fifteen years now. They’ve traveled across the country, called six different states home and are raising three beautiful children together.
Aaron is on an extended deployment right now. It’s been five months so far. They have seven more months to go. The children miss their daddy. Stephanie misses her husband. Being a wife of a retired Air Force officer, my heart swells when I see families like theirs and the sacrifices they make on a daily basis.
I had such a good time with Stephanie and the children. We laughed together, talked, colored and ate ice cream. When the children held the “We love you, Daddy!” sign up, they yelled it out loud with all of their hearts just as if their daddy could hear them. It was precious!
Stephanie and Aaron ~ I pray the rest of your time apart goes by quickly. May God continue to bless you and your family and give you a joyful reunion.
those are beautiful! what a fun family portrait session!
Can’t thank you enough for the wonderful job you did for Steph and the kids. A very pleasant surprise to see my littles ones in this very real setting doing what kids do best, enjoying life. This is my fourth deployment and being away is never easy, but when so many like yourself reach out and touch a family like you have done, makes being away just a little easier. May God continue to bless you in this path, as you touch many more families, just as you have mine.
Aaron Hager, Maj, USAF
Thank you for the unexpected comment, Aaron! It was my pleasure. You have a wonderful family.
beautiful pictures, although they made me cry! These are precious kiddos (and a precious mommy) that have huge hearts and you can see it in these pictures! They will be treasured forever, i am sure