When Brush College Elementary School held an assembly for the students at its gym to discuss the importance of saving the military, Alex and Anabell Caroll had no idea that they were in for a surprise — Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Joana Caroll, their mother, had come back home from her deployment in Afghanistan for nine months.
As the discussion went on, it didn’t take long for the Caroll siblings to figure out the real meaning behind it. As long as Joana strode into the door, Alex and Anabell darted to meet their mother with hugs.
The moment turned emotional for the once-again reunited family.
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“My daughter has been pretty emotional,” Joana said, “She stopped talking to me a couple of weeks ago because she didn’t want to make me sad.”
Now that she is back on their side, Joana said that she spends the next three months with her kids to make up for the missed holidays and events before she goes back overseas.