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A US army officer deployed overseas surprised her daughter before her high school graduation in Alabama in late May, emerging as her daughter watched a congratulatory video message she had sent her to keep up the ruse.

Footage released by the US Army shows Jai Sisk sitting in a restaurant as she watched a montage that her mom, Chief Warrant Officer Trina Sisk, had made because would not see Jai graduate in person…. or so Jai thought.

“Though I’m not there with you in person, know that I am always there,” Sisk told her daughter in the video message, which included photos of her daughter throughout the years.

As the tribute video concluded, Jai joked that her mom looked “like one of them soldiers in them videos on TV.” A moment later, Jai turned to her right and, seeing her mother, leaped from her seat to hug her.

After the graduation, Sisk was due to return to duty in Kuwait in support of Operation Spartan Shield, the US Army said. Credit: US Army via Storyful