Army Mom Gone 9 Months Surprises Daughter At Lunchtime

MILLERSVILLE, MD — For nine months, fifth grader Kaylee Post has missed her mom terribly. Army Sgt. Brianna Post-Burkholder has been deployed since Feb. 11 in Afghanistan. But last week, Kaylee receive the surprise of a lifetime when a familiar figure dressed in fatigues showed up at her school.

Kaylee had just sat down to eat lunch, clueless that her mom was hiding in the hallway waiting to surprise her. Suddenly, Post-Burkholder walked into her lunchroom, her eyes lit up as she sought the crowd to find the daughter she hadn't seen for nine long months.

"It was pretty hard. The longest I had been away from them was probably about a month for military training, so this was definitely a challenge," she told WBAL.

The big surprise had been in the works since the school's Veterans Day when Kaylee's dad told school officials that Post-Burkholder would be coming home soon. Everyone jumped on board to make her homecoming perfect.

"Kaylee is a special member of our Millersville Elementary School family, and we wanted to make this homecoming as special as she is," said Amy Worrall, the school's assistant principal.

The little girl told WBAL she thought she was dreaming when she saw someone who looked like her mom walk through the door. She was stunned when she realized it really truly was her mom who she'd been missing terribly, especially as the holidays loomed.

"There are no words to describe it," Kaylee said.