If you or a loved one serves in the United States military, you are aware that long periods of separation from family can occur. Jonathan Hill, Boatswain’s Mate First Class, had been away for 365 days.

Fortunately, Jonathan’s time away from his family was about to come to an end. And he intended to make a big impression on his two children.

Landon, 15, and Jaliya, 8, had been told to join the other students at North Muskegon High School in the gymnasium. They had no idea the assembly’s honored guest was their father.

Jonathan made his way down the corridors, jet-lagged and exhausted from his flights from Bahrain to London and into Detroit Metro. The most terrifying part of the trip was waiting to walk through the doors and into the gym.

This surprise pre-spring break gathering had been planned for a month. Teachers at North Muskegon High School had kept this reunion a secret, but it had finally come to light.

Jonathan’s anxiety vanished the moment he stepped into the crowded gymnasium. Landon and Jaliya burst into tears and dashed into their father’s arms. The audience erupted in applause around them.

It was a watershed moment for Jonathan, one he had been anticipating for a long time. «Nearly being tackled by my son was the best feeling I’d had in a year,» Jonathan said.