As we say goodbye to Thanksgiving and welcome the start of the holiday season, we must remember that this time is not all cheerful and festive for everyone.

There are among us, courageous men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and whose presence will be sadly missed around the dinner table come the holidays. As people go about their day, shopping, opening gifts, sharing a meal with their family, there will also be sons, daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters for whom Christmas will never be the same.

We often hear that these servicemen and women leave behind them a grateful nation. But they leave behind a grateful family as well. Sons and daughters who have felt deep loss, but who honor and revere the parent who paid it all for a cause bigger than themselves. Now, there can be no lack of honor for a family member who served, and there are lots of ways to pay respects. Whether it be memorial services, participating in Memorial Day events, or laying flowers at the grave, there are many ways for families to remember and honor the fallen.

For those who may want to go an extra step in preserving the memory of a family member who died in service, say a son who wants to commemorate his father, there is Heritage Patriart. They specialize in oil on canvas recreations of iconic American heroes going back to the Confederation. Among their framed works include figures such as Robert E. Lee, Andrew Jackson and Stonewall Jackson, and a father who laid it all down for his country deserves to be among their company. It could be your mother, father, or spouse, and although a statue may never be erected to commemorate their sacrifice, they can still be honored for the American hero that they are, to you, and to your family.

It’s one thing to have photos, but to have a family member immortalized in a hand painted portrait hanging in the living room or by the dining room table, is another thing entirely. Heritage Patriart will make certain that the memory of your loved one is preserved and even enhanced in a way that just can’t get captured in a photo. And come this holiday season, there may be no better or more appropriate gift as the family gathers around for Christmas, than a unique, oil on canvas portrait to capture forever, the magnitude of their hero’s glory and sacrifice, to be passed on through the generations.