A photo of seven firefighter fathers and their babies is taking the internet by storm — and not just because the infants (and daddies) are cute.
Instead, it’s the men — all members of the same Glenpool (Okla.) Fire Department — became dads within a year. To celebrate, they arranged for a photo shoot, with the firemen in their uniforms and their baby girls sporting the same red bows. The adorable pictures melted the hearts of many thousands of people across the country and have quickly gone viral.
Melanie Todd, married to the firefighter Dusty Todd, was the first to share the incredible image on Facebook. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle that although all the families share a tight bond, having babies around the same time was not part of a larger plan.
“We’re all young adults and just in that phase of our lives,” she says, adding that they’re all excited to be able to see their babies — five girls and two boys (Jovie, Cohen, Saylor, Bodie, Henley, Kadance, and Gracie), ranging in age from four weeks to 15 months — grow up together.
“We go through life together and know we can lean on each other,” says Alyssa Shank, also married to a firefighter, explaining that the group is truly one big family. The photo’s insta-fame “feels surreal, to be honest,” she says. “We had no idea our cute little fire family photo would have gone viral like it has. We are happy to bring some warmth and sweetness to people’s news feed during a time when you see so much negativity in the news.”
She says: “As a fire wife, we know if something happened to one of our husbands, these guys and these families would step up and be there in a heartbeat. They are heroes in our town, and heroes in our homes.”
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