Those who serve in the military know the heartache of not being able to be by their family’s side during holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. However, no matter how hard it is for them to be separated from their loved ones, they know they make that sacrifice for their country and its people.
We would say that the best part of serving overseas is coming home and reuniting with the friends and family who pray for the soldiers’ safe return.
One of our national heroes, Army Staff Sgt. Andy Patterson, returned home after being deployed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for one long year. This was his third deployment, which means he spent a long time away from home and didn’t have the chance to see his three children grow up.
However, now that he was finally home, he and his wife Andrea decided to surprise each of their kids with an individual visit at school.
Sharing the incredibly sweet and touching video of the three separate reunions with their father, the Killeen Independent School District wrote “Tissue Alert!” and added: “Staff Sgt. Andy Patterson and his wife Andrea surprised their three children in a trio of individual reunions in the hallways at Brookhaven Elementary School.
“Following a pair of deployments with a brief break between, the pair wanted to make this return special. It was!”
Speaking to Killeen ISD, Patterson said: “For me, it meant a lot. I could tell by their reactions it meant a lot to them.”
The family said that although this wasn’t the first time for Patterson to be away from home for so long, it’s still as hard as the first time.
“If anything it gets harder watching your children grow up and knowing that you’re missing out on a majority of their life when you’re gone during that time period,” he said.
Mom Andrea said she is as excited as her kids to have her husband home. “It feels good because they need their dad, you know, and, you know, as a military family we know the sacrifices we have to make as a whole but doesn’t change the fact that we’re human and we just want to be together too,” she said.
We hope they will have a fun time and will use every second of every day that they are together to make the most of their father’s presence.
Thank you for your service, Sgt. Andy Patterson, we are happy you got home safely.