For the past three years, Major Joshua Jopling has been away from home for a total of 23 months. Away from his wife, Kristin, and his three children, Rafe, Eldie, and Bryson. He was deployed overseas, serving his country, but this soldier dad kept his family close to home, and so did they.
"It gets very emotional to the point where you could actually cry for like 30 minutes," Rafe, his oldest son, said about missing his dad.
But the Belton, Texas, children stick together. When Dad returned, he wanted to give them each their own surprise.
After a nine-month deployment, Jopling returned home this past Friday morning, February 10.
Together with his wife, Jopling decided the best surprise would be to give each child their own specific surprise.
First came the youngest, little Eldie.
She was tricked into going outside for hot dogs, but the surprise she found there, her dad still dressed in his fatigues, was better than any hot dog could ever taste.
Next came Rafe and Bryson, who were surprised at their respective schools, Nolan Creek School and Providence Prep School.
"I wanted each child to have their own experience,” Kristin said.
"Everything is better. It's right at that moment,” Joshua said.
And though his long deployments have been hard on the family, it is not without its benefits.
"I think it made us better. I think we're stronger. I think we can handle anything now as a family," Kristin said.
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