Soldier Dad Surprises Daughter with Birthday Homecoming

Bridget Carr will never forget her third birthday.

The Carr family decided that for her “birthday present,” Bridget would open a wrapped box on the family’s front porch in St. Louis, Mo. With her younger sister Mackenna watching, the three-year old started ripping off the paper from an old appliance box. Bridget assumed that the box might contain a bike.

As soon as Bridget finished unwrapping the box, out came the present. It was her father Joshua, who had just returned from Afghanistan. Joshua works for the Department of Defense.

Bridget screams and puts her hands over her mouth as soon as she sees her father. The three-year old then jumps in to his arms and gives him a kiss.

Joshua returned home last September and uploaded the video to his Facebook page. However the video went viral this week, thanks in part to Reddit. The original post has been shared over 325,000 times. Carr also put the video on YouTube, where it has over 200,000 views.

The Carr’s have shared a number of different family moments online. In addition to Facebook photos and videos, mother Chloe keeps a blog to document her children’s happenings. The blog includes photos from snow day activities, first dentist visits, holidays, and more.