Ronin Coffelt is a young boy who just turned 8 years old last Saturday on May 5th. His father, Senior Master Sgt. Mark Coffelt, is a deployed military aviator in the US Air Force.
Little did young Ronin know, Dad had something extra special up his sleeve for the little Airman-in-the-making.
Mark has been deployed before, four times to be exact, and has been serving in Qatar for the last 8 months.
Just to give you an idea, that is 7,106 miles away from where Ronin is in North Dakota, and what feels like a world away!
Each time Roninโs father has returned from duty, he has gone out of his way to make it a meaningful experience for his adoring son. As if he would ever have to do anything but show up!
Ronin had been persistently questioning his mom about whether or not his dad was going to make it home for his birthday.
As with anything in military life, that was a loaded question that only time and circumstance would tell.
Roninโs mom, Aleecia, didnโt know herself if her husband would be able to make it, until shortly before the big birthday.
When you spend so much time apart from the people you love most, you have to make every moment count. That is just what Aleecia and Mark Coffelt decided to do for their little boy.
When Mark found out he would be coming home for his sonโs birthday, he and his wife got to work on the scheme.
This was going to be a BIG surprise.
Mark crept home after Roninโs bedtime on Tuesday night. Then Ronin returned from school the next day to a massive present lying in the middle of the living room.
Ronin ran straight to his gift and threw himself around it. He could barely keep himself from tearing it apart!
He never even noticed that the best present yet was hiding right around the corner in the hallway.
Ronin tore through the box to find yet another wrapped present, this time with a letter attached from his Daddy!
This is where the video gets tough to watch. Roninโs voice, downright ecstatic as he starts reading the letter, gets increasingly shaky as he realizes itโs saying his Dad wonโt make it home for his birthday.
Can you imagine how hard it is to be so terribly excited to see someone, only to find out they wonโt make it after all?
The moment was hard for Mom too, as she tells Ronin not to cry and to keep opening the other gifts. An upset Ronin then accuses her,
Yeah?! Well youโre about to cry too!
Just as he gets exasperated with the endless boxes, Ronin finally opens the last small box.
Inside he found a note that simply said โSurprise!โ
Confused, Ronin started going back through the boxes.
He looked up to his Mom with a baffled expression on his face, then froze in shock.
Ronin suddenly realized he was staring into his Dadโs face, and flew across the room into Daddyโs arms, making him feel right at home again!
Both were weeping with joy between endless hugs and kisses.
Through muffled sobs, you hear Ronin ask,
Why so many boxes?
Making us laugh even in the middle of this heartwrenching reunion. Itโs moments like this one that makes coming home worth the wait!
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