Primary school teacher and mum Paula Riggs hadn't seen her son in almost two years.
That’s because Florida boy Paul had been deployed in Japan for three years.
But recently, the 24-year-old came home for a surprise visit, and suffice to say Paula was over the moon.
In the touching video, primary teacher Paula is busy telling her third graders about Tura-Lura-Lura, the Irish lullaby that she used to sing to her son, when in walks Paul.
Straight away, her hands fly up to her face and the floodgates open. Her boy takes her into his arms and as they embrace, the elation is written all over her face as she repeats “My hero!” over and over again.
The beautiful surprise is all down to Paula’s sister Jennifer.
“My sister Jennifer was the mastermind behind the whole operation,” Paul told Today. “She found out our mom had kept saying, ‘Why can’t I get one of those military surprises?’”
“About two weeks ago, she called the school and set everything up. All I had to do was show up in my service alphas.”
While Paul kept it together a bit more as he walked into the room, he admits he had his own complex emotions in the run-up to the big day.
“I was nervous and excited,” he said. “But that went away when I walked in the room.” You can watch the heartwarming video below.
