A man who thought his truck was being stolen nearly fell down in shock when it was his son returning to surprise him after 15 years.
Tony “Tone” Yates Jr. planned the surprise for his dad, Tony “Ace” Yates, after more than a decade and a half apart.
The younger Yates left California when he was 15 years old, moving to Memphis to live with his grandma before settling in Miami, Florida.
Meanwhile, dad Tony remained in California, where he lived near his daughter, MoNeka, who was in on the surprise.
According to MoNeka, Ace and Tone had only seen each other once in nearly two decades – for Ace’s wedding – but they remained close and would FaceTime most days.
When Tone finally planned a visit to California, he reached out to family members to ask how he could plan a big surprise for his father.
Earlier that day, on July 26, Ace had been fishing, and so the family planned for him to meet them at a local bowling alley, where Tone would be waiting.
But when Ace arrived at the Vacaville, California, parking lot, he refused to enter the bowling alley in his fishing gear, leading his family members to improvise.
MoNeka’s daughter headed to the parking lot, where she chatted with her grandpa as a way of distracting him.
Then, with MoNeka pretending she was looking at something on her phone – but really having her camera rolling – Tone snuck into the front seat of his father’s truck.
MoNeka encouraged her dad to turn around because someone was “stealing” his truck, but when he ran to the driver’s seat, he noticed a familiar face staring back at him.
An excitable Tone could not hold back his joy when pranking his father, but Ace showed an emotional side that the family very rarely sees, MoNeka said.
The father and son then headed in for a loving hug, with Ace fighting back tears at being with his son once more.
MoNeka, who shared her video online, said: “My dad was ready to snatch whoever it was, and that would have been a serious tussle.
“He loves WWE, and it was about to go down.
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“Dad doesn’t like to show emotion, but we got him that day.
“I felt overjoyed for my dad, filled with so much emotion and just happy for him and happy to see him show his real emotions while caught off guard.
“The entire day was all unplanned and definitely unexpected.
“I’m still overjoyed for my father as well as my brother.
“It was simply a beautiful moment that we only intended to share amongst ourselves and other siblings.”