Back in 2008, Captain Robert Yllesca was tragically killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, leaving behind a wife and two daughters.  His daughter Julia was just 7 years-old when he died, as she was forced to go through all of life’s major milestones without her heroic dad.

Julia treasured the memories she has of Robert, and she never leaves the house without a necklace that has the words “Love, Daddy” in his handwriting.

“It gets harder and harder every year,” Julia said of dealing with her father’s death.

Recently, Julia hit another milestone without her dad when she took her final set of high school photos.

Susanne Beckmann has been photographing Julia ever since she was 9, and she recently photographed her near a lake in her home state of Nebraska for her senior photos. Julia wanted her dad to be there with her more than anything, but that was sadly not possible physically. Susanne, however, had an idea.

Julia was at dance camp when her mother sent her a text with the finished senior photos. When Julia saw the photos, she could not believe her eyes. Susanne had edited a translucent, ghostlike version of Robert into the images so that he’s standing next to her.

“I stepped outside to look at the pictures, and I just had to recollect myself before I could go back inside,” Julia said.

The photos have since gone viral, and now people from all over the world are contacting Susanne asking her to do the same thing for them and their deceased loved ones.

“This was just supposed to be something special I was doing for one of my customers,” Susanne said. “I’ve never seen a reaction like this to my photos.”

Check out the photos for yourself in the video below.