A special surprise came for two sisters, just in time for the holidays at Dewey Elementary School in Point Loma.
Monday afternoon kicked-off with an ice cream social, then a raffle for a new bike.
Jordyn Hall heard her named called and was stunned, but the third-grader received an even bigger surprise when she turned around.
“I was shocked to see the bike, then I turned around I got even more shocked,” the third-grader said.
Jordyn and her six-year-old sister, Taylor, suddenly saw their mom pop out of the crowd.
Melissa Hall, an active-duty Navy sailor, had been deployed on the destroyer USS Pinckney for six months.
The two screamed with delight at the sight of their mother.
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“I thought I was dreaming,” Jordyn told NBC 7. The group hug was very emotional for Melissa and her oldest daughter.
“Yeah I think Jordyn was crying,” Melissa said.
Melissa Hall has been in the Navy for 14 years and told NBC 7 that deployments are part of the job, but they never get any easier.
“I wish that deployments went between all the important things in life, but they don’t always go that way, so it’s hard," she said.
The family was able to FaceTime for Taylor’s birthday while their mom was away. Other than that Hall watched her daughters grow through pictures.
At Dewey Elementary the principal told us that 80 percent of the students have a parent in the military.
On Monday, dozens of students got new bikes presented by members of the San Diego City School’s Police Department, through the “Blue Buddies Program”--with a little help from Santa, who flew in on a police helicopter thanks to some winter magic.
But the biggest arrival by far was one Navy mom.
“I’m really happy … because my mom is finally home,” said Jordyn.
And for Hall, “It was incredible, it was priceless.”
