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Father, returning from Navy boot camp, surprises children at Boardman schools
BOARDMAN
You could hear a pin drop in the Market Street Elementary School gymnasium, which just seconds before had been bustling with activity, as Brooke Griffith, 9, ran across the floor and leaped into the waiting arms of her father.
It was an embrace that seemed to last an eternity, which is how long it might have felt to the two since they last were together.
Unknown to his children, Jason Griffith, a single father, returned home Monday night from Navy boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill. On Tuesday, he surprised the kids – Maddy Fleming, 13, Brooke and Aiden, who turned 8 Monday – at their schools, Center Middle School and Market Street, respectively. He hadn’t been home with them for four months.
Setting Brooke down after holding her tightly in his arms, Griffith walked down the hallway, discreetly wiping away tears, to surprise Aiden in his Market Street Elementary classroom.
“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Griffith, a soft-spoken man, about making his return a surprise. “It’s hard being away from them, that’s for sure. They’re the reason I do this.”
He knew for two weeks that he would be coming home Monday, but he and his parents kept the return date a secret from his children – no easy feat, given their constant inquiries.
Griffith, who now is in the Reserve, also is a student at Kent State University. He joined the Navy this summer, and plans to enter active duty after he gets his degree.
His mother, Cheri Gray, contacted The Vindicator to share her son’s story.
“To say his children are proud and miss him terribly is a tremendous understatement, not to mention his mother, sister, dad and brother,” she wrote, noting the family’s deep ties to the military. Gray’s father, brother and husband, Terry, all served in the Navy.
She went to Market Street and Center Middle with her son Tuesday, beaming with emotion and pride the entire time.
Teachers in Aiden’s classroom were surprised by his reaction. “He’s never speechless!” one said, noting that he often talks about his father at school.
The two younger children were nearly speechless when they saw their father, but the long, quiet embraces he shared with them both said it all.
Brooke and Aiden happily left school early, first to surprise their sister – who sobbed during the reunion – at the middle school and then to spend some long-awaited time with their dad.