A video of a three-year-old boy who ran to greet his mother Tuesday morning while she was still in formation after returning home from a nine month deployment went viral on Facebook earlier this week.
Cooper Waldvogel hadn't seen his mother in nine months. A member of the National Guard's 114th Transportation Company, Kathryn had been deployed to Afghanistan while her husband Adam stayed at home with their son. Adam and Kathryn are both in the National Guard, and had not seen each other in 19 months because their deployments overlapped. Thankfully, their parents live close by and have been a big help in caring for Cooper.
Kathryn was surprised to see little Cooper standing just in front of her after getting in formation with the rest of her Company - "I was longing to hold him," she said. The 114th Transportation Company was told by their first sergeant not to greet family and friends until they had been dismissed. Cooper, however, did not seem to want to wait any longer - the little boy rushed across the room and jumped into his mother's arms.
"He just kept smiling like he was in awe of me," Kathryn told KARE 11, who had captured the video and posted it on Facebook. Thousands of people have shared and liked their video, and the Waldvogel family is grateful for the encouragement that they have received from social media. Needless to say, little Cooper is ecstatic to have both of his parents present for the first time in almost two years.
