U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chris Cordes surprised his daughter, senior Emily Cordes, today during class.

Chris had been planning for this surprise about a week before his arrival, but his daughter had been asking him to surprise her for weeks. 

Chris had been deployed four other times before in Kuwait but is currently in the reserves. 

“She was like, ‘It’s not about you, it’s about me!’,” Chris said. “‘Surprise me at school!’”

Emily said she was surprised by the encounter, despite her expecting he’d come to the school. 

“It was hard [to have my dad gone],” Emily said. “We were so close and I just missed him.”