Joseph Thomas knew he was going to the zoo the weekend before his birthday. The almost 9-year-old was smiling ear-to-ear when he was unexpectedly called from his seat to participate in the live dolphin show. But his biggest birthday surprise was five months in the making.
His dad, Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Thomas from the U.S. Navy, surprised his son during the dolphin presentation after months of being stationed across the country in San Diego. Joseph and his mom, Nicole Thomas, live in Indianapolis.
When Joseph was looking at the audience, his dad came up behind him, scooped him into his arms and they hugged to cheers and emotion from the crowd of over a thousand.
“Daddy?” Joseph said excitedly, before his father picked him up.
When he walked out on that stage, Joe Thomas’ heart was racing.
“My heartbeat was like, 137 beats per minute,” he said. “I was nervous and excited, happy.”
Joseph and his dad are close, Nicole Thomas said, so the separation has been hard for him.
“He’s been heartbroken and he’s asked every single day, ‘When does Daddy gonna get to come home?'” Nicole Thomas said.
When Joseph’s dad got word that he had been approved to take leave and come visit, Nicole Thomas immediately started brainstorming how they could craft a birthday surprise — he turns 9 on Oct. 16.
“We knew that that was gonna be the best birthday surprise that we could give Joseph,” Nicole Thomas said.
Joseph loves animals, and the mother and son have spent a lot of time at the Indianapolis Zoo. So the choice to have Joe surprise his son during the dolphin show was a natural one. After Nicole Thomas asked, and the Zoo agreed, the plan was in motion.
And for Nicole, seeing her husband and son reunite after months was an indescribable moment of joy.
“When I saw them back together again … it felt home,” Nicole Thomas said.
Besides one deployment and this recent move to California, the couple have rarely been apart in the nearly 10 years they’ve been together, Nicole Thomas said. Adjusting to living far away from each other for the past few months has been difficult.
“It’s so hard being away from Joe and not knowing how long it’s going to be until we get to see him again,” she said.
Ultimately, Nicole Thomas said that the family didn’t expect such a reaction to the homecoming video. They just wanted to surprise Joseph.
“Not a dry eye in the house!” The Zoo said on Facebook in a post sharing the surprise reunion.
Contact IndyStar trending reporter Claire Rafford at crafford@gannett.com or on Twitter @clairerafford.
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