It was just an ordinary Friday about five years ago when Jadyn Garrett’s mom said she was going to have a babysitter watch her and her younger brother while she went out with friends.They lived in St. Louis at the time and her father had been serving in the Air Force in Afghanistan for six months.

But the surprise was on them.

“When our dad walked through the door we were in shock,” Garrett said. “We missed him a lot. He had been gone for so long. We were giving him hugs and kisses.” They all hung out for a for a long time. “It was late, so we watched TV and hung out before going to bed,” she said.

Her father had gotten hurt, so he came in on crutches. “He hurt himself by playing basketball it wasn’t even military related which was the funny and sad part,” Garrett said. He had torn his quadriceps tendon in his knee.     

Since her dad was hurt they just stayed in the house all day hanging out with each other. They watched basketball and movies all day but they went to Walmart he had to ride in one of mini cars when you can’t walk. While they were there he hit one of the shelves but luckily he didn’t knock anything down but we was making fun of him a lot.

Garrett said they had an amazing time hanging out with each other and she won’t forget it. “It was just me, my mom and my brother. We had been lonely without him, so when we reunited as a family, it was very special.”