So many families in the military community have to make adjustments when a loved one is away. This means missed milestones, events, and experiences. For many service members, they just aren’t in a position to come home and spend time with family when they want to. But many do what they can.

Often talked about are the spouses and children of our military members, but there are lots of big and little sisters and brothers who also miss their siblings. In many cases, siblings are the best of friends, so the absence of one sibling makes a huge impression. Families learn to lean on each other for support.

For lovely bride Sarah, she was brokenhearted that her U.S. Marine brother wouldn’t be able to attend her wedding. He was actively deployed and she was told he wasn’t going to be able to make it. In the video shared below from cinematographer Andrew Didway, we see that Sarah’s wedding day was totally turned around.

Dressed head-to-toe in fatigues and wearing a military backpack, Sarah’s brother marched from the driveway to the back yard where Sarah was standing. Taking photos in her wedding gown while holding her bouquet, Sarah wasn’t paying attention to what was happening behind her. She finally noticed a shift around her, and spun around to find her brother walking up to her. Surprise!

At first, her face had a mixed emotional expression of joy and surprise, but the shock of it all turned into happy tears. As you watch, you’ll be crying too. Sarah’s brother dropped his bag and went to embrace his sis, and she just let it out, crying heavily into his shoulder. The brother and sister’s reunion was also full of smiles. Still in disbelief, Sarah asked her brother, “When did . . . what happened?!”

We learn that he was able to get a last minute one-day leave in order to be there for her big day. This was after sending his sister a letter telling her he couldn’t come, so all that time she was sad and disappointed. Through the video we also learn that the rest of the family knew he was going to surprise Sarah, and were excitingly waiting for him to show up. Luckily, he arrived before the ceremony.

Sarah mentioned to him that she noticed everyone was acting strangely and looking around. She just suspected it was a wedding related problem that they were trying to keep her stress level at bay. You could feel the love as the rest of family stood around witnessing the happy exchange that was full of tears, affection, and excitement.

We’re so happy that Sarah’s brother was a part of her life changing day. She had two reasons to celebrate! Sometimes we’re able to catch other stories like these where our service members sneak up and surprise their loved ones with their appearance. What a beautiful way to help these families continue to support each other through periods of separation. What did you think of this emotional sister-brother reunion? Have you ever received a surprise like this? Tell us in the comments!