An Army dad who had been serving overseas for a year surprised his 11-year-old son on stage after the sixth-grader's winter concert Thursday.
Alex Carrion, Jr., who plays the trumpet, had finished his final performance when his father, Alex Carrion, Sr., listening to the concert feet away, entered a side door and walked on stage. The younger Alex sat in disbelief, as his father rushed to him, picked him up and kissed him, the crowd cheering with joy.
“I did not expect this at all. It was a complete surprise, and when it happened, I didn’t really respond at first,” said Alex, Jr., a student at Fitchburg’s Memorial Intermediate School. “It’s amazing. It’s wonderful. I haven’t seen him in so long.”
His father, a sergeant with the U.S. Army Reserve, had been deployed for about a year, serving in Poland and Lithuania in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
At Thursday night’s concert, Sgt. Carrion anxiously paced backstage, eager to embrace his boy after arriving two days earlier. The reunion was worth the wait.
“I could hear him playing, and obviously I just wanted to get to him as soon as possible,” said Sgt. Carrion, who lives in West Springfield. “I’m really excited and can’t wait to spend more time with this little man.”
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