Taylor Crafton was used to her dad being deployed. She had seen him leave nine times over the years due to his job in the Air Force.
So it didn’t entirely surprise her when her father, Chief Master Sergeant Chris Crafton, was not going to be there for her high school graduation. He was deployed to Cuba, and was not expected to return home until August. The family remained in good spirits though, even making a cardboard cutout of Sgt. Crafton so he could be “there” for big events like prom and graduation.
Taylor named it “Flat Daddy”, and “Flat Daddy” was sitting next to her mom as she walked across the stage to receive her diploma.
But little did she know that she was about to get something even better.
At the end of the ceremony, the principal of her school called her back on stage, leaving Taylor in tears and her mother bewildered. They were initially a little upset, because she was crying on stage and the principal knew that her dad was deployed.
But then came the moment: her dad rushed onto the stage, leaving Taylor and her family shocked and in tears.
This is his last deployment, so he wanted to make sure he was able to get leave in order to be there for this big moment in his daughter’s life — and it was a surprise for the rest of the family, too.
No one knew that he was going to show up like he did. And for Taylor, it was the best graduation present she could have asked for.