Military mom surprises son over school intercom after returning home from deployment
— -- A U.S. Air Force master sergeant has surprised both her sons at their schools after her return from a 7-month deployment overseas.
Shania Porter, 36, of Phoenix, Arizona, made the two stops on Monday to announce her homecoming to her boys, Bryce, 5, and Blake, 4.
"It was the best feeling ever," Porter told ABC News today. "It was the completion to know it was over and I was home. That was the feeling of home for me."
First, Porter went to Primrose School of Palm Valley in Goodyear, during Blake's first day of school.
Porter surprised her preschooler by broadcasting her voice over the school intercom in the front office: "Attention Pre-K 1," Porter said. "I have a special announcement for a little boy that I flew so many miles to see and to tell him how much I love him."
Porter then walked inside Blake's classroom to reveal herself during their emotional reunion.
"[Blake] was confused and I said to him, 'Did that sound familiar? Do you know who that was on the intercom?'" school franchise owner Karen Verlardi told ABC News. "His mom came in and his back was turned and she tapped him on the shoulder and that's when they embraced."
She added, "To just see them together was incredible."
After lunch, Porter surprised her eldest son, Bryce, a first-grader at Crown Charter School in Maricopa County, Arizona. School Principal Janis Ramirez had given her cellphone to Bryce to FaceTime with Porter.
Bryce thought his mom was FaceTiming him from 3,000 miles away but soon realized that she was standing at the playground right outside of his school.
When Bryce realized where Porter was, he ran outside, where the two tearfully embraced.
"[T]o see him reunite with his mother who I know he just loves, it was just a memorable moment that we were happy to be apart of," Ramirez told ABC News.
Since being home, Porter said she's been enjoying visits to the arcade and movie night with her boys and her husband.
