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Surprise! from Afghanistan
March 30, 2012

“Mom, what are you doing here?” turned into tears of joy for Kristen Pretzer when her brother, dressed in Air Force fatigues, walked up and said “hi.”
 

Siblings Kristen and Travis Pretzer embrace during their surprise -- at least to Kristen -- reunion.

Kristen, a freshman from Cleveland, Tenn., was coming out of chapel Friday morning when she was surprised to see her mother, Barbara, sitting on a bench by the sidewalk. A moment later, with tears streaming down her face, she and her brother Travis were wrapped in a tight embrace.
 
Travis, an airman first class, had just arrived in the Chattanooga area from service in Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force. He said he would be on “R and R for four-and-a-half days.” He will have a longer time with his family later this year, he said.
 
Kristen said she last saw her brother at her graduation this past May, and had had a recurring dream for several weeks that he would surprise her. “But yesterday he called and said he couldn’t come until May. I was so depressed yesterday.”

Mrs. Pretzer confessed, “Well, we had to lie to (Kristen) to not give away the surprise.”
 
Friday morning, it seemed the deception was forgiven.