A grandma photobombs her grandson’s video call, only to realize the person holding the phone was her military grandson returning home from duty.
Diane Pierce, 78, from Chesapeake City, Maryland, and her grandson Gavin, a specialist with the U.S. Army, share an incredibly close bond.
Diane was with her grandson from the moment he was born until he started kindergarten, babysitting him numerous times a week, so his mom, Kara, could continue to work.
As an adult, Gavin keeps in touch with his grandma every single day, so when he discovered he had leave from his base in Fort Hood, Texas, he knew he wanted to surprise Diane.
Having liaised with his mom, the Army specialist first surprised his siblings, Abrey and Kody, before heading over to his grandma’s house.
Diane was working on a graduation party for the following day, so she was half paying attention as she thought she saw Kody – who is four years younger than Gavin but looks a lot like him – on a video call.
Having poked her head in on the call – and with family members around the pair acting casual – it then took Diane a few seconds for everything to click.
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When they did, though, the 78-year-old’s jaw dropped and she was quickly wrapped in her grandson’s arms for a long-awaited hug.
The sweet moment took place on May 27, 2022, but Kara didn’t share the videos of the surprise on her social media channels until 2025.
She said: “When my mom walked into her sunroom to put her mail on the bench, she walked right by Gavin thinking it was Kody standing there.
“She was kind of in her own head at the moment.
“I think when we all started laughing, she clocked that something was up.
“She said when she turned around, she thought it was Kody holding the phone with Gavin on FaceTime.
“It took her a second to realize that it was Gavin standing in front of her.
“We thought it was hilarious that she walked right by him.
“We couldn’t believe she didn’t notice him.
“And then it was quite touching when she fell into his arms.”
