A U.S. Army sergeant who has been serving in Afghanistan returned home Friday morning to surprise her daughter at Hope Elementary.
As students lined the hallway waving flags, Keagan a kindergartener, suddenly saw her mother walking down the hallway. She raced down the hallway shouting “Mommy!”
Sgt. Mary Everroad, a Hope native, has been serving at Bagram Air Base as a medical sergeant for about a year. This was her third tour. Earlier in the morning she surprised her younger daughter, Kherington at daycare.
Mary’s father, Hope police officer Rick Everroad, said the planning almost all fell apart Friday morning, when the school called and said that Keagan was not feeling well. But they decided to keep her in school to take part in the surprise.
Hope principal Jessica Poe says they kept the secret quiet until just before the ceremony. She said it had a big impact on the first and second grade students who took part. Some felt like crying after seeing the surprise unfold, she said.