On any given day, a family somewhere in the United States is desperately missing a loved one who isn’t just Mom or Dad, but also a soldier fighting to protect America. While soldiers stationed overseas are able to communicate via Facetime and live video feed with their families back home, it isn’t the same as being close to each other, sharing a hug.
Apache pilots are highly skilled aviation officers from the branch of the Army. They also know how to fly the Chinook, Black Hawk and Kiowa and engage in transporting troops or supplies. Apache helicopter pilots also fly combat missions.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Denise Sanders had been stationed in Afghanistan where she had been charged with flying an Apache helicopter. She had been gone since November, almost half a year.
Denise’s little boy Aiden, a kindergartner, had been down in the dumps with his mom gone for so long. At his age, one week felt like an eternity, let alone almost six months.
They weren’t able to spend the holidays together and she missed many school activities while serving her country and protecting everyone else’s freedom.
Everyone knew Aiden’s wish – to see his mom face-to-face again.
One day, Aiden and his fellow kindergarten classmates were assembled in their school cafeteria during lunchtime. The teachers informed the kids that they were having an awards ceremony, but there was something else going on behind the green curtain on stage behind her.
A very peppy teacher talked about how hard the students work every day and how one particular student – Aiden – had been awfully dedicated. She invited him on stage with her and he threw his little arms around her. She asked him what his one wish would be and he proclaimed that he wanted his mom to come home.
Little did he know that his wish was about to come true…
The teacher handed Aiden an object that he recognized as something his mom had taken overseas with her when she was deployed. The teacher asked Aiden how it might have gotten to their school. He decided that the postman probably mailed it to them.
Then the teacher told him she thought that maybe they could make his wish come true…
Aiden throws his arms around her while the kids chant, “Let’s make his wish happen.”
The teacher directed Aiden to close his eyes and repeat his wish.
“I hope my mom would come home.”
Suddenly, the curtain draws open and standing there in her fatigues is none other than Aiden’s mom Denise!
He skipped up the stairs and she greeted her baby boy heartily.
“Hi buddy!”
Aiden leaped into her arms and buried his face in her neck. He clung to his mom and wasn’t about to let her go. She clasped tightly to her little boy and the pair exchanged a moment that erased the loneliness and heartache of the past five or so months.
You can just barely hear him proclaim “mommy” over the sound of the screaming kids who are so happy for their classmate and buddy. His mom is finally home!
Watch their awesome reunion in the video below. It’s incredibly heartwarming!
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