A little boy in Springfield whose father has been deployed to the Middle East got a big surprise in in his kindergarten class at Hunt Valley Elementary School.
The boy's parents are both in the Air Force. He lives in Springfield with his mom and his dad lives in Colorado, but has been in Jordan for the past seven months.
"Daddy is my hero. He is big and strong," read Kelyn Parry. Her five-year-old son Jayden Kelly doesn't know why his grandparents are here, or why his mom is reading the book, My Daddy is my Hero.
But he's about to find out.
"It was actually her idea. I told her I was coming home, and I wouldn't mind surprising him. She, just, out of the blue came up with this huge, elaborate plan," explained Air Force Special Agent Chris Kelly.
He hasn't seen his son in seven months, and Sgt. Kelyn Parry, also in the Air Force, wanted to make their reunion memorable.
Big surprise reunion for a little boy whose Air Force dad shows up at his @fcpsnews kindergarten class! @AirForceOSI #happykid @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/tK6So9QLUZ
— Peggy Fox (@PeggyTV) December 16, 2016
"Chris and Jayden have quite a close relationship.That's literally his 'mini-me' and Daddy's his hero. So, I figured, why not make little boy happy?," explained Parry.
The school said yes and everybody got in place.
When Kelly stepped into the classroom, Jayden gasped and screamed, "Daddy!" Running into his father's arms and tearing up his grandmother.
"I'm so happy for him, so happy," she said.
Father and son embraced and told each other how much they missed the other. As Kelly put his son down, he realized how much he'd grown in seven months.
Even though mom and dad have gone their separate ways, they never forget the most important thing they share.
"We made a promise to each other, you know, with Jayden, that our friendship comes first, for him. So, we've never wanted him to have to pick between mom and dad. So we keep that friendship between us, because we known how important is it for him, too.
Jayden will be going to Colorado with his dad to spend the holidays with his family.
