I love being a volunteer for OpLove Reunited. I’ve met some wonderful families that have sacrificed so much for our country. My favorite is being there to document some beautiful homecomings. I’ve been talking to Stephanie since last year when she reached out to me about covering Alex’s homecoming. It was expected that he’d be returning home in February from his deployment. Anyone with military connections knows how up in the air their returns can be on location and dates. So Alex reached out to me about a week or two before his actual return date. He told me all about his plan to throw her off and actually surprise her a week early at her classroom where she teaches.
He actually returned two days before he was able to surprise her at school. So he spent the weekend hiding out in his hotel room, but had to keep up the secret. Alex had it all planned out and was prepared with some stories of things he was doing before he came home – sending her cell phone photos and everything over the weekend.
Rowland Academy in Harrisburg jumped in on pulling off the surprise. They helped cover Alex by saying that reporters would be visiting her classroom to report on the school and their current academic recovery. Guys – it worked!!! She was camera ready and totally thrown off! 😉
Stephanie’s students were so surprised, cheering for them and even a few tears. They even hit him with some pretty good military related questions; “Where were you deployed, what was your job.” But we were all rolling when they brought out some hilarious kid questions; “Is that your brother, can you stay here with us, you guys should kiss!” After all of the student’s questions and interviews, I got the chance to steal them for a few minutes to roam around the hallways and it was magical <3
