Ever heard of the “Military Family Syndrome”? The term was first used after the Vietnam War, when it was found that children of deployed parents faced behavioral and psychosocial problems.
Studies have shown that parental military deployment is often associated with child anxiety, depression, and aggressive behavior.
Experts advise military parents that they should educate themselves before deployment, they should make sure they remain close to their children as much as possible, discussing the latter’s deployment-related stress and confusion.
Still, no matter how well prepared a family that has a deployed parent is, and regardless of how many times a week they chat virtually, the gap in the children’s hearts remains.
All they want is to have their deployed parent back. And what better season to ask for them than Christmas?
For Ella, a young schoolgirl, Santa looked like the most appropriate person to ask for this gift.
Instead of dolls, ipads, or bikes, Ella’s only Christmas wish was for Santa to bring her dad back on his sleigh.
And so he did.
When Ella went to the mall to meet Santa Claus, she didn’t know that she was about to get the biggest surprise ever.
The little girl goes over to Santa and asks if he has received the letter she sent him. She explains it was about “Papi”, and Santa immediately knows.
He takes the letter out of his pocket and opens it. The girl is happy that her letter reached him, but she has no idea her wish is soon to be granted.
In the meantime, Ella’s dad is approaching from the other side, but she still hasn’t noticed.
When Santa asks her to turn around, she only turns to the camera, thinking that they are asking to take a picture of her with Santa Claus.
Once their photo is taken, Santa asks if she wants to see more of Santa magic, and asks her to turn to the left. That’s when she sees him.
“Papi”, she yells, and runs into her dad’s arms.
“It made me really happy,” her dad later told USA TODAY, “how she believed that there’s real kind of magic in the world. […] For me it’s all about making her happy, and keeping her imagination open on all aspects of life.”
Ella’s dad wanted to make sure that his little girl would believe that Santa did bring him back on his sleigh as she had asked. Indeed, the girl was convinced that this is how it all happened. She even narrated her dad’s experience on camera.
“He brought Papi on his sleigh,” she said, “and Papi told me that he was scared of the sleigh ride. It was magical.”
Indeed, no matter how her dad was brought back to her, whether there was actually a sleigh involved or it was more of an aircraft, their reunion was magical and definitely emotional.
Click on the video below to see the girl’s heartwarming reaction when she sees her dad after a long time!
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