Many parents drag their feet when they have to go to their children’s school plays, recitals, and parent teach conferences, but one dad who hasn’t been able to come home for over a year knows that being able to witness those moments is a gift.
For the past 15 months, Sergeant Jimmy Dale Sprouse has been deployed in the military and has had to sacrifice precious time with his family and loved ones. But he finally made it back home this week in time for the holidays and decided to surprise his daughter.
“It’s not only the soldier that is serving this country,” Sprouse said. “It’s the families, it’s the kids, it’s the grandparents, it’s everybody. They’re serving with them.”
And all those months away started to take a toll on Sprouse and his family. “They have to deal with a lot with me being active duty military. Being gone for long amounts of time, not being able to talk as much as you’d like to. Not being able to be at basically school events that, you know, most parents get the advantage of doing.”
With the help of his daughter Shelby’s school, he showed up during band practice with a bouquet of flowers, quietly snuck up behind her, and poked her on the back. And the minute she looked into his eyes, Sprouse broke down in tears.”Oh, I’m still shaking,” Sprouse said.
“It’s a lot of emotion. It’s nice to finally actually be home. You don’t realize how much you miss home until you’re gone…It’s hard being away from home and you finally get to see them again. How much they’ve grown, how much you missed out on. She was about right ‘here,'” Sprouse said as he pointed to his waist. “But she, she got big. Video-ing with them don’t do them justice.”
How would you react if you saw your child for the first time in almost a year and a half? Let us know in the comments below, and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: WDTV]
Soldier Surprises His Daughter At School After Returning Home is an article from: LifeDaily