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Breaking rank: 2- year-old welcomes father home

Karis Oglesby’s father has been in Kuwait for an eight-month-deployment. Her parents were both afraid that little Karis would have trouble remembering him when he returned. Fortunately, that was soooo not the case.

Karis, who will celebrate her third birthday on Thursday, saw her father standing in the front row of a military homecoming ceremony and rushed to greet him.

First Lt. Daniel Oglesby,a.k.a. “Daddy” caught a quick hug in before she went back to her mother.

“That moment was about the family, so I figured I’d greet her, give her a kiss on the head, and then tell her I’d meet up with her momentarily after we were done with the presentation,” Oglesby said.

“We all understand. That’s their moment. It’s tough on them being away from family for eight-plus months,” he added. “When they finally see them, there aren’t many people who will stand in their way of seeing their parents, and it definitely wasn’t going to be me.”

The hug was apparently inspired by Karis’ mother Kristine, who has been reminding Karis and her older sister Layla about their father ever since his deployment in February.”Lily Hates Goodbyes” was read for this purpose. The premise was of a young girl whose dad also goes away on deployment. At the end of the story, the girl runs to give her father a big hug upon his return.

Kristine said that they should do the same thing for Daniel when he returned home.

Karis, pardon the pun, ran with it.