Military life is a rewarding experience because you are able to bravely fight and serve your country. However, it can be stressful, especially for those who have partners and kids they’re leaving behind. Deployment can also last from months to years.
Children who have a deployed parent can experience academic and behavioral challenges.
For one, they experience multiple stressors before and during their parent’s deployment. It also occurs when their parent/s come home. That’s why appropriate mental health support is needed for every child.
It’s not just children who are affected by deployment, but the parents as well.
Hence, they do their best in helping their children cope and show them they are loved. They spend as much quality time with their children. Some of them even surprise their kids once they get home.
This is what happened with a loving father and his daughter.
Sgt. Caleb Whitley hadn’t seen his daughter and son in eleven months.
Before he departed, he left a jar of kisses for his daughter, Alaina. Each kiss chocolate served as a reminder for Alaina that her daddy may not be there, but every chocolate was a representation of daddy’s kisses.
Sgt. Whitley’s service lasted for eleven months and when the time came, he didn’t tell his daughter that he would be coming home early.
Alaina thought that her dad would come home after five days. In truth, he would be back in just three days. So, on the day of his arrival, they created a surprise for her.
Alaina didn’t know how to read yet, so when her mom asked her to stand in their yard with signs in front of her, she didn’t know what was about to happen.
The placards read, “My dad is behind me, but I don’t know because I can’t read.”
Her dad was behind her, ready to surprise her.
But Alaina was oblivious. She even said, “I wanna go potty!”
Her mom responded with, “Alaina hold on! Okay, come.”
Her mom walked towards her and asked.
“Who’s that behind you?” she asked.
Alaina became giddy with excitement!
“Daddy?” Alaina asked.
“Turn around!” her mom excitedly said.
Instantly, Sgt. Whitley walked to his daughter and hugged her!
Alaina was overjoyed to see her dad back home. Sgt. Whitley was also happy to finally hug his baby girl. It was a beautiful moment between a father and daughter.
“It made, honestly, that moment, that point in time, made every bit of it completely worth it.” Sgt. Whitley said in an interview with USA Today.
Being away from his family was truly a difficult experience for Sgt. Whitley. He had a wife and two kids whom he constantly thought of while he was deployed in another country. That’s why his wife, thought of a way to help their kids cope.
She bought daddy dolls with a picture of Caleb in his uniform.
“I saw on Facebook these daddy dolls that a lot of deployed military families had,” she said in an interview. “The kids carry it around everywhere.”
Now they don’t have to hug a doll because they have the real thing standing before them.
Currently, they are enjoying quality time as a family.
Watch the beautiful reunion video below!
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