It's always emotional seeing military families reunite after being apart from each other for so long, and this current situation is no different. One military dad surprised his family after being gone for a yearlong deployment, and, well, let's just say you should grab some tissues before you proceed.
Kelby Cook had been stationed in the Middle East. A medevac Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the National Guard, he is used to being away for long periods of time.
He is married to his wife, Lexi Cook, with whom he shares two sons: 7-year-old Kael and 2-year-old Krue. His being away had been pretty hard on the kids.
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The family shared that Kael, who is his dad's mini-me, often cried himself to sleep throughout his dad's deployment. "Being away from the wife and kids was probably the hardest part of deployment," Kelby shared. "I'm really close with my family."
With the drastic difference in time zones, Kelby rarely had a chance to communicate with his family. The poor internet connection also caused a barrier. "We probably didn't speak more than 25 minutes throughout the whole year," Lexi said.
Kelby's family, who knew he was scheduled to return last week, had no idea that he was planning such a surprise. His father-in-law arranged to drop him off at a nearby hotel just a day before his son's kindergarten graduation. He communicated with his family, making it seem that he would miss the ceremony and apologizing in advance.
But unbeknownst to them, Kelby had coordinated an entire surprise with Kael's school. On the day of the graduation, he arrived right at the end and hid at the back of the gym. Kael's teacher then made a tribute to his bravery during such a tough year, and that's when his dad stepped out of his hiding spot.
The video shows Kelby walking toward the stage and his wife and Kael running to meet him with an emotional embrace. Krue later walks in and joins the family. Everyone in the gym is applauding the tear-jerking moment.
Lexi shared an emotional post to her Facebook shortly after. "We got the biggest surprise of our lives today when daddy showed up at Kaels Kindergarten graduation this morning," part of it read. "I’m so thankful that my husband made it back home safe to us. It is truly an answered prayer."
