A Countryside Elementary School first-grader will get to spend this holiday season together with all members of his family.
One of Countryside Elementary School first-grader Devon Rodriguez’s family’s favorite holiday traditions is heading out together to cut down a Christmas tree.
Yet for the past few weeks, Devon’s mother has been rather quiet at home as to whether Devon’s father, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dominic Schultz, would be back from his deployment in time for the holidays.
Schultz has been deployed to Korea since May, and he has not seen his children since.
On Dec. 9, Devon was in the middle of giving a presentation to his first-grade class on holiday traditions, when suddenly, Devon’s father walked through the door in full uniform.
“It was priceless. I was definitely pretty impatient to see him,” Schultz said as he recalled the look on his son’s face.
Schultz described his son as “one of a kind,” and with Devon’s seventh birthday also on Dec. 11, and the holidays so soon after, Schultz said it was a great time of year to surprise him.
“It’s amazing. I’m grateful that I could be here for those days,” Shultz said.
Devon, whose mother and teacher describe as normally quite talkative, was speechless once his father entered the room.
Jennifer, Devon’s mother, said she and her family had been planning the surprise for months, even working out some of the details while attending a parent teacher conference some time back.
“I tried not to speak about when he was coming home or if he was coming home … I felt bad a little bit, but this made it all worthwhile,” Jennifer said.
Ultimately, she said all her family wanted for the holidays this year was for everyone to be home together.
Devon’s first-grade teacher Nina Tamburelli, who arranged so Devon was giving a presentation when his father arrived, said Devon’s mother thought the surprise would just be a special idea for her son, and the idea simply went from there.
She said Devon even brought in a small stuffed bear in an Air Force uniform for the presentation.
“My student Devon talks about his dad all the time,” Tamburelli said.
Once Devon had a few minutes to absorb the shock of his father’s surprise return, his family signed him out of school a little early so they could start enjoying their holiday season together.
