DADADEL
Late Army Sergeant’s sons, Mason (8) and Mylan (5) shared a poignant moment at their father’s Virginia grave. Despite losing him to cancer months ago, they visited Arlington National Cemetery, cherishing precious time with their late Army staff sergeant, just as they did when he was alive.
“They laid down and chatted with him and shared what was going on in their lives. Then Mylan said that he could feel him and that he wanted to take a nap with him,” said Kait Brazel, the boys’ mother for PEOPLE.
They proceeded as planned. The boys spread out a blanket, with Mylan drifting into a nap while Mason offered a prayer at the gravestone.
“They’re a lot stronger than me. They’re just really remarkable kids,” said their mother.
Army Staff Sgt. Fred Brazel passed away from stage four rectal cancer on July 31, a mere five months after receiving his diagnosis.
As Thanksgiving Day neared, the family from Colorado Springs embarked on a road trip to visit Fred’s grave, their first visit since his burial.
Kait said: “On the drive there, they were drawing pictures to show him and in the pictures, he’s an angel. He’s in heaven watching down on them playing outside and doing all the normal stuff they would be doing if he were still here.”
The poignant photos depict the boys lying together on a blanket beside the late Army sergeant’s grave.
“I’ve been shocked by the way my children have reacted since the day that my husband got sick. Their reactions at the grave site were no different. I’m like a total emotional wreck and so I do need a lot of strength from them because my children are really resilient,” said Kait.
According to Kait, Mylan cherished napping alongside his father and had a fondness for gifting flowers to others.
“When we got to his grave, Mylan actually went and picked some grass that was near the tree by his casket. He laid it in front of his headstone,” she says.
Kait and Fred never shielded their kids from illness, accompanying them to every doctor’s appointment as Fred’s condition worsened.
“He died on top of a mountain in my arms and he could hear my children playing,” said Kait.
She plans to be transparent with her sons about their father’s life and demise in the future, committing to live as if Fred remains present.
She added: “He was an amazing father. You would just see him with Mason and Mylan and your heart would just overfill with joy. Sometimes I would watch him play with them and I would just start crying because you could genuinely tell that he was an involved father who cared. That was probably my favorite thing, how much of a dedicated father he was.”
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