Military Dad Surprises Twin Daughters During School Storytime

A pair of twins saw their class story time end in a real-life fairytale - as their military father returned after a 10-month deployment overseas to surprise them. Ava and Bianca Graves, who are in second grade at Madisonville Primary School in Tennessee, were listening to their teacher read the book "Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops" by Jill Biden. Their dad Bryan, 54, a Sergeant First Class with the Tennessee Army National Guard, received news in early 2020 he would be deployed to Cuba. But almost a year later, when wife Melissa received a call to say Bryan would be coming home, the pair decided to set up a surprise for eight-year-olds Ava and Bianca. With less than 24 hours’ notice, and thanks to the help of school counselor, Mrs. Jett, and their principal, Mrs. Davis, Bryan and Melissa arrived at the school during the planned storytime. In the book, the soldier asks his daughter if she’s been taking care of everyone while he was away: the perfect cue for their teacher to ask the twins if they’ve been caring for others in their father’s absence. As they reply ‘yes’ their teacher admits she has another surprise for the class revealing Bryan to enter the classroom - with the twins running and jumping into their dad’s arms.

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