Mother Doesn’t Know Her Sailor Son Is Behind Her As She Takes Family Photograph

Dec 28, 2021

For many families, making sure to enjoy every single moment of quality time together means the world to them. This is especially true for people who may not live as close to their loved ones as they wish, or for people who find themselves traveling frequently or working overseas for a good portion of the year. The men and women who serve their countries know this feeling all too well and know exactly how amazing it feels when they finally get to come back home.

This separation is hard for anyone, especially parents whose children are serving overseas. It’s an emotional experience just getting to watch reunion videos of parents and kids reuniting after being separated for so long, and it’s even more emotional for the people involved in the heartwarming reunions.

For one mother, she received the best gift she could have ever asked for in Dec. 2019. That day, she and her family were at a restaurant in Big Bear Lake, California, when they decided to take a family photo. Her son, a sailor, wasn’t with them at the time, so she decided to hold a small cut-out of him to make sure he was still included in the family photo. 

Then, right before the family had their picture taken, a familiar face stood behind them and made a surprise appearance. However, the mother didn’t even realize that her sailor son, who she dearly loved and missed, was right behind her! The beautiful moment when she finally realized her son was directly behind her was caught on camera and uploaded for the world to see. Read on to find out more about this beautiful family moment. 

A video of this family moment in Big Bear Lake was uploaded to a YouTube channel called Ramon Lerma Travels, which has since been viewed over 20 million times – and it’s easy to see why. In the caption of the video, the uploader — who is presumably the husband of the "mom" in the video — explained that his wife wasn't sure she would get to see her sailor son for Christmas. However, in the end she was met with a wonderful surprise.

The sailor had been picked up from the airport the night before and met up with several family members to plan the best holiday surprise for his mom, according to the video’s caption. Everyone in the family was in on the surprise and they happily gathered together for a nice family photo while out at a diner. 

As the mom held a cardboard cut-out of her son, she smiled for the photo, completely unaware that her actual son was right behind her the entire time. He had been escorted into the restaurant by the staff and eagerly made his way to his family’s table.

Despite being shown the picture after it was taken, the mom didn’t believe that her son was really there. In fact, she thought that the person who took the photo was using some kind of Photoshop app that added her sailor son into the picture.

It took a couple of tries, but finally, the mother realized that her son was in fact directly behind her. She was quickly overwhelmed by her emotions, and couldn’t stop hugging her son. It was clear that all of the hard work and planning the other family members had put into the surprise really paid off, as the mom was completely moved at the sight of her sailor son. 

People who viewed the video absolutely loved it. One person poked fun at how long it took the mom to realize her son was really there. They said:

"Lmao the son could literally be dancing on the table in front of her and the Mom would still be like 'Oh This is a cool app!'"

Meanwhile, others thought it was adorable that the mom had a cardboard cut-out of her son. Other users commended the grandma for playing along so well, while others were worried the little girl would ruin the surprise. Thankfully, though it all worked out and it shows in how moving the video is.

Now, two years after the original video was made, the same channel uploaded a new video on New Year's Day of this year. They planned to redo the same surprise but this time with a different approach. Once again, the mom was informed that her son unfortunately wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays. So the father devised a plan which revolved around his son delivering a package to the house. He explained in the video's description:

"So we got another chance to do it again. About 3 weeks of planning went into this. Our son has been serving in the US Navy overseas in Sicily. Coming homes has been next to impossible because of travel restrictions etc. So about 3 weeks ago we started putting the surprise together. The family reaction was priceless!"

When the family managed to surprise the mom her reaction was once again, very sweet and moving. As the father says in the video — remember to cherish those special moments with your family when you can. 

What did you think about this mom’s two reunions with her son? Were you surprised by her reaction? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones as well.