A pair of siblings immediately burst into tears of happiness when they heard their sailor dad’s voice and realized he was in the room for a surprise reunion after three years apart, living overseas.
Quiyon Young, 36, from San Diego, California, had predominately been based in Japan during his time away from his daughters, Laila, 11, and Laci, 9.
The two girls were from Quiyon’s previous marriage, so they remained in Baltimore with their mom, with whom Quiyon still has a strong relationship.
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Before moving overseas, Quiyon, a chief warrant officer with the United States Navy, was always there for his daughters, who would regularly visit him in San Diego.
But when Quiyon was deployed to Japan in January 2022, he was informed that he would need to remain in Asia for at least six months of the year, with his deployments often being while his daughters were on their summer breaks from school.
As a result, Quiyon couldn’t see Laila and Laci while he was back, as he was still required to travel around the U.S.
The separation was extremely tough on the family, with Quiyon calling his daughters on FaceTime daily.
But then, at the end of 2024, the 36-year-old received the news that he could finally reunite with his daughters.
With Laila and Laci set to visit Quiyon’s mom’s house for the holidays, their father planned a big surprise with the girls’ grandma and his current wife, Ashleigh, 36.
On December 20, Laila and Laci sat on a sofa at their grandma’s house with their eyes closed, having been told there was a surprise waiting for them.
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As soon as their father spoke, the pair immediately recognized his voice, bursting into tears before heading in for a hug that had been three years in the making.
Ashleigh captured the surprise, which took place in Columbia, South Carolina, on video.
She said: “The girls are very close to my husband’s parents – their grandparents – and stay with them in South Carolina every summer and almost every Christmas.
“So they knew they were staying with their grandparents last Christmas but did not know we would be home.
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“They didn’t think they would see their dad for a while, so we knew we wanted to surprise them!
“My husband‘s mom sat them down on the couch right when they got there to pretend like she was asking them some questions.
“My husband then came from where we were hiding outside to surprise them like you can see in the video.
“I immediately started to cry, seeing the looks on all of their faces.
“I knew how hard it has been for my husband to be away from his girls for that long, and just seeing the joy on his face as he walked in that door to surprise them made me so emotional.
“I knew the girls would be excited, but when I saw their reactions, it really showed how deeply they missed and need their daddy.
“It was a beautiful moment.”
