A mother, who is actively deployed in Southern Europe, made a surprise appearance at her son's graduation from the University of West Georgia.
Malik Heard got more than just his degree when he walked across the stage to get his diploma on Saturday. He was shaking when the announcer said one word that got his attention.
“Kosovo, Kosovo, that’s what caught my attention. I was listening to what he was saying but then I heard Kosovo and I knew that’s where she was deployed I was like hold on,” Heard said.
“I looked to the right again and I saw her come around the corner and that’s when my heart dropped,” he said.
Heard’s mother, Sgt. Eva Roby, serves in the National Guard had been plotting for months to see her son at his graduation. She was serving a tour in Kosovo, and didn’t want to miss this tear-inducing reunion.
“It was a pretty popular time quite a few graduations so it was a possibility my leave wasn’t going to be approved,” Roby said.
She reached out to the University of West Georgia to help her surprise her son as soon as her leave was approved.
“I contacted them and as soon as I contacted them they were all for it they were excited,” Roby said.
She has always been committed to being there for her kids.
“I’m that mom that I don’t miss too much of anything,” Roby said.
Their emotional reunion went viral.
Their embrace was an act showing the sacrifice of our servicemen, women, and their families. A mother is proud of her son, and a son is proud of his mother.
“The fact that he’s a young adult or young male and how he ran to me, like a little and I think it just shows no matter how old or grown they pretend to be they always need, I’m not going to say mom but their parents in a sense,” Roby said.
While Rory is home for just one more week before she heads back to Kosovo until the following year, Heard is now a special education teacher working with elementary students.
Source: WSBTV