A six-year-old girl who dreamed of visiting her older sister in New York burst into tears of joy when her parents surprised her with a trip to the Big Apple to celebrate her academic success.
Skylar Maxwell, from Jonesboro, Georgia, looks up to older sister, Keyara, 21, who moved to New York to study at Suny Cobleskill State University.
Due to Keyara’s academic commitments, she and Skylar hadn’t seen each other in person for two years, so the siblings would make do with chatting over FaceTime.
But the digital connection didn’t live up to spending time together, and during the two years, Skylar would reiterate she’d like to travel to New York one day to see her sister.
In February, Keyara received news she was set to graduate from university a year early, so her mom, Star, and dad, Tarik, decided to plan a trip.
They noticed the date of Keyara’s ceremony was a few days after Skylar’s own graduation, so the timing worked out perfectly for a big surprise.
Skylar had shown a stellar academic record for the year, Star said, attending a dual language school, scoring high on tests, and being accepted into a gifted program.
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This provided a perfect reason for the surprise, which Star and Tarik disguised by saying Tarik was heading out of town on business and needed to head to the airport.
With Skylar expecting to say goodbye to her father at Hartsfield Jackson Airport, she was then given the news of where she and her dad were headed.
The shock of the moment caused the six-year-old to immediately burst into tears, which a proud Star – who couldn’t travel because of work commitments – captured on video.
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Over the days that followed, Skylar and her father spent time with Keyara and proudly attended her graduation.
Star said: “Neither of us expected Skylar to be so emotional – we knew she’d be excited for sure, but the tears and appreciation in her reaction truly warmed our hearts.
“I was literally holding back tears because we are so proud of her and want to give her the world, and because I wouldn’t be able to join them due to prior client booking before the date was announced.
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“Skylar’s reaction has warmed so many hearts – from family, friends, and complete strangers.
“Many people told her they were proud of her and don’t even know her.
“So many others said she made them cry too.
“Numerous people were elated for her to reunite with her sister because they could see the love in her eyes and through the emotions on her face.”