When Anthony Angel suffered from depression at age 13 there was one thing that would brighten his day.
His 5-year-old little sister Belle.
“With his depression, he tends to isolate himself, and she can bring him out of that,” their mom Christina Angel, a professional photographer told ABC News.
It’s difficult to feel down when in the presence of Belle’s irresistible charm of a Disney Princess.
She is, after all, named after one.
“She is a little ray of sunshine,” Christina said. “She is constantly bounding around and smiling and making funny noises and trying to get people to laugh. So he’s drawn to her because they balance each other out. He’s the one that tucks her into bed at night and he pretends to sprinkle magic salt so she doesn’t get bad dreams. They are very, very close.”
It was Anthony that came up with the idea to do a Disney-theme photoshoot with Belle as Snow White and him as Prince Charming.
“He’s got a very special bond with her and she’s very effervescent and light and joyful. She runs around in Disney princess dresses all the time,” Angel told InsideEdition.com.
But he wanted to make sure it was a surprise for Belle. Mom jumped on the idea and bought them both costumes.
Belle was overjoyed when her brother surprised her with a Snow White dress and trip to the park to take photos with her brother dressed as Prince Charming.
Christina says the photo shoot was a breeze.
“I really just sat back and let them play and laugh. The only hard part was not crying,” she said.
The day couldn’t have been more special for everyone.
Especially Belle.
“She loved absolutely every second of her photo shoot with her ‘favorite boy in the world,’” Angel said on a Facebook post.
Christina has seven children in total but says that Anthony and Belle are the closest out of them all.
“Dealing with a child who had depression isn’t easy, and I watch his struggle all the time. Belle makes him smile,” Christina said. “That’s a gift. I’m glad that people can see that he appreciates the joy she brings to him and he wanted to make a gesture to return some of that joy.”
She says she hopes that the photos will give people a chance to see the importance of sibling bonds in action.
“When I’m gone someday, all they are going to have left is each other so I want them to stay close,” Angel said.
She is very grateful that Anthony and Belle have become so close.
Christina posted the photos online where they went viral.
“I didn’t even bother putting my name on the photos since they were my personal pictures,” she said.
Their story was picked up by several major news outlets.
“It’s been overwhelming and humbling to see how many people have been touched by this story,” Christina said.
Learn more about this heartwarming photo shoot in the video below.
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