A four-year-old boy's very tight-gripped display of brotherly love for his younger brother was captured in a hilarious family photo.
The photo was taken this month during a photo session that Andrea DeLaney, mom of 4-year-old Emerson and 18-month-old Wells, says she has her Hoover, Alabama family do each year.
Because Emerson was not feeling the family photo session that day, DeLaney said the photographer was trying to get him involved, and asked him to hug his little brother.
The result that the photographer snapped is a photo of Emerson with a near-chokehold on Wells, who can only stand there and grimace.
"He loves giving 'squeezy hugs,' as he calls them," DeLaney said of Emerson, adding, "I really feel like he just wanted to, you know, put all of his love into Wells' neck."
DeLaney said that, unfortunately for Wells, his older brother's arms at this moment hit right at his neck, because of his height – hence the chokehold hug. She joked that won't always be the case, though.
"It's not going to be long before Wells can jiu-jitsu his way out of that headlock and wrestle back," she said. "I don't think we'll get many more of these pictures."
DeLaney said she wasn't sure if the photographer had captured the exact moment or what it would look like, but when she saw the photo, she knew it was "a framer."
"I saw that one and was like, 'Absolutely, I'm getting this one,'" she said. "It is so them to a T."
DeLaney added that Emerson loves his brother dearly, and that love can be seen in the grip he has on Wells: "People who know them know that Emerson is a great big brother. They love each other so much," she said.
The photographer, Alex Uselton, owner of 5U Photography, told "GMA" that as a mom of three young kids herself, the photo she took of Emerson and Wells is why she loves taking family photos.
"I am not a photographer that expects kids to sit still and smile at the camera, nor do I have any expectations as to how each session should flow," Uselton said. "I encourage kids to be themselves, and am there to capture what makes each family uniquely perfect."
She continued, "That includes the sweet, and sometimes funny, moments that make up the beautiful, chaotic mess of life with little ones."
DeLaney, who posted the photo on Facebook with the caption, "brotherly love," joked that she can't wait for her sons to recreate their now-viral photo for their high school yearbook or future weddings.
Now that the photo has garnered lots of likes and comments on Facebook, DeLaney said she can see why it's so relatable for both parents and siblings alike.
"The more I thought about it, I think as parents, we're all just trying to do the best we can. We want to give our kids the best. We want to watch them grow up and be happy," she said. "And I just think anytime a parent sees somebody else going through the same thing they are, it's like, 'Oh, thank goodness. I'm doing it right. It's not just me.'"
She continued, "And it's something where you're like, 'Oh yeah, I remember what it's like to have a sibling.'"
