Marine surprises wife at Haverhill graduation

  Yesterday my son Andy graduated from Northern Essex Community College (with honors might I add) and my wife and I could not be prouder of his accomplishment. We love you so much Andy! Congratulations; you worked so hard and you deserved it.

  Besides seeing my son receive his diploma there was another special moment at yesterday’s graduation ceremony. As the ceremony progressed I noticed a Marine standing off in the corner in full dress uniform and I thought it was strange but I did not put two and two together until the ceremony was stopped before one woman received her diploma. By the time I realized what was about to happen it was too late for me to get a video so I simply watched it unfold.

  We heard about her story; she met a man in a class at NECCO and eventually they fell in love and got married. Ten days after the wedding he was deployed and she had not seen him since. This was the marine I saw standing off in the corner; he was not supposed to be there but he was there to surprise his wife, making the day doubly sweet for his beloved.

  As he and his wife embraced the whole audience was on its feet cheering and I think more than one tear of joy was shed. It was an unbelievable event to witness firsthand, I often watch videos of these surprise homecomings and they always make me emotional but to witness one firsthand was something that I will never forget. It made Andy’s graduation even more special than it already was to me.

  Here is the video, I only wish it had more of the speech leading up to the climatic event: