A woman who took a job as a 911 dispatcher to support her family as a single mom was surprised by her kids and husband reading loving messages as she made her final call before retirement.
Hayley Franklin, 51, has given 31 years of service to the Stanly County Communications Center, in Albemarle, North Carolina, and estimates that she took more than 200,000 calls.
She was one of the founding members of the center, taking the job as a single mom to support her daughter Kasey, who was three at the time.
Hayley worked 12-hour night shifts until Kasey was 10 years old, guiding callers through some of the scariest moments of their lives.
Today, Hayley is married and has two daughters, and when she told her superior that she was planning to retire from the role, he reached out to the family to plan a special surprise.
The group decided the family would be on Hayley’s final sign-off call, reading out loving messages and stating how proud they were of their mom and wife.
Kasey, 34, lives away from home in Raleigh and dialed in from her local state emergency operations center, while daughter Tayler, 22, headed to the police department of Western Carolina University, where she is studying.
Then, on October 30, a member of staff at Hayley’s center started recording as the 51-year-old took her final call.
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After initially receiving thank-yous from members of staff, the next call to come in said “this is your first born,” before Kasey read out her message, talking about her mom’s service before saying “now it’s your turn to rest, to taste your own adventures, and to find peace in the stillness you gave to so many others.”
Following Kasey’s tearful “I love you,” Tayler read out her message from her university, joking that her mom’s service had been longer than she had been alive before stating how admired she is.
Lastly, Hayley’s husband, Michael, 51, read out his message, mentioning how proud he was of his wife’s accomplishments in a challenging career.
The wholesome moment was later shared on social media by Kasey, who saw her post gain more than a quarter of a million views.
Kasey said: “I’m sure you can hear in the video, it was an emotional moment for me.
“She had me when she was young, so she always tells me that we grew up together.
“That rings true in the sense that I grew up witnessing her go through many ups and downs.
“It wasn’t always easy for her, yet her strength never wavered for one second.
“It was kind of a ‘she earned this, she worked so hard for this…and it’s finally here’ moment.
“I’m just so proud to call her my mom.
“She was shocked at the surprise.
“It was emotional for her too as she’s always been the foundation of our family, she is always the one behind the scenes making things happen.
“The fact that the roles were reversed this time and she got to hear how proud of her we are made her heart so full.”
