Carly Camacho had been counting the days until she would see her father, but Christmas came early for the 6-year-old River Grove School student.
She was supposed to see him on Sunday, but around noon on Dec. 19, Christian Camacho walked into her classroom while she was eating pizza. He has been away from his daughter and family since starting basic training in the U.S. Army in August.
He completed his basic training and other requirements and was able to return to River Grove for two weeks for the holiday.
His daughter couldn’t wait to see him, but wasn’t aware of the surprise early visit. There was a brief look of shock on her face when Camacho entered the classroom holding cupcakes.
When he called her name, she ran into his arms and stayed there for quite a while.
Anisa Chohan, Carly Camacho’s kindergarten teacher, said she would often mention that her father was coming home soon.
“She has been super excited,” she said.
Her mother, Sayda, said prior to her husband’s return they’d replace the word “Santa” with “Pappi” when they sang “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Sayda said she couldn’t wait to see the look on her daughter’s face when she saw her father after such a long time apart.
Christian Camacho, who also has a 3-year-old son, said he has missed his family very much because the only correspondence he received in basic training from family and loved ones was through the mail, and it came in slow. But joining the military was something he had wanted to do for a long time and at 33 years old he had to do it before the age cut-off, which is 35.
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“It was a dream of mine,” he said. “I decided to follow my dream.”
He said he plans to make the best of the two weeks he has with his family and doesn’t want to think about saying goodbye again, at least for right now.
“I’m happy and ready to enjoy the holidays,” he said.