Losing someone you love can be one of the most heart-wrenching experiences we go through in life. For Kait Brazel, it was her husband, Fred.
Staff Sgt. Alfred “Fred” Brazel was diagnosed with rectal cancer in February 2017. Five months later, he died at 37 years old.
Kait took their two sons, Mylan and Mason, to visit their dad's grave for the first time on November 20, 2017. Kait told ABC News that she cried the entire 24-hour drive to the Arlington National Cemetary.
“As a military family, we’ve spent so much time apart that a part of me felt like he would still come home from this deployment,” she told ABC News.
Once they arrived at the cemetery, Kait and her sons spent some quiet time with Fred. She snapped a photo of her sons on a blanket, talking to their dad's gravestone. "They took time together with each other, and I just stood back," Kait told ABC News.
Keep scrolling to see the heartbreaking photos.
[H/T: ABC News]
Kait Brazel lost her husband in late July to stage 4 rectal cancer.
Staff Sgt. Alfred “Fred” Brazel had served under the US military and was buried in Arlington National Cemetary in Arlington, Virginia.
Alishia of The Potter's Hand Photography was invited to the memorial service on behalf of the family.
"Kait has shown immense strength and quiet dignity through this painful and heartbreaking time in her life," Alishia told LittleThings. "Her faith is inspiring, and the love she has for Fred and those boys pours out of everything single thing she does."
Explaining death to small children can be difficult for any parent — especially a grieving one.
“I tell them, ‘We are here as tools for God. God knew that Daddy was a really strong person, and there were some people God couldn’t reach unless he used Daddy as a tool,’” Kait explained to ABC News. “That’s how we went with it and how we justified it. That’s what we believe.”
When the family later went to visit Fred's grave, Kait brought a blanket for her sons to sit on.
The boys talked to their dad as if they were sitting around the table — like they would have normally.
“Mylan shared with him how he had earned his uniform and belt in his fight class, and how he went to a Halloween party and won a cake,” Kait told ABC News. “Mason told him how he got a trophy for his breaststroke in his swim competition. They updated him on their lives.”
"Mylan said he felt like he could feel his daddy, and he wanted to take a nap with him,” she told ABC News. "He is laying there, taking a nap with his dad, and Mason is beside him, praying."
While her boys prayed and napped at their dad's grave, Kait took a few photos to remember the moment.
Although the boys had only a combined 13 years with their dad, Kait knows just how big of a mark he left on the little boys' lives.
“Mason remembers a lot about his dad and how he raised him to be confident and very goal-oriented," she told ABC News. "He’s been teaching Mylan the same, saying to him, ‘This is how Daddy would do it.'"
“I’m positive that they’re going to remember him forever,” Kait told ABC News.
The family knew that their dad lived a fulfilling life despite being taken from them.
"He fulfilled everything he needed to here on this earth. We’re just really proud of him, in how he fought," Kait told ABC News.
Before the family left the cemetery on their visit, Kait's youngest had one last thing to do: give his dad a hug.
“He said, ‘Wait — I have to go back and give Daddy a hug,’” Kait told ABC News.
Kait knows that it will take time to heal, but visiting her husband's grave was a good first step.
“But I felt better leaving, because now we know what to expect," she told ABC News. "I have spoken to a bunch of other Gold Star families, and they say these visits don’t get easier, but they’ll be different each time.”
“Fred’s mission in life was to reach people and bring them to God and just smile,” Kait told ABC News.
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