Traffic stop turns into surprise reunion between soldier and his mom

Officers told Darlene MacCallister-Humes that she had an expired registration sticker.

Except, she knew she was up-to-date.  So when an officer asked Darlene to step out of her vehicle, "I'm like, 'Oh my God, what did I do?'" she said.

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The day was not going well for her. First, Darlene's son Alan, a soldier based at Fort Carson, Colorado, had called.

"He said, 'Mom, I got bad news, they canceled my flight. I won't be home until tomorrow.'"

She was so disappointed.  And then, she got pulled over.

"They had me get out of the vehicle, which really got me nervous," she said.

But what Darlene didn't know was that she had been set up.

Officers at the Hanson Police Department arranged a traffic stop.

"A soldier was coming home, and he would like to surprise his mother and he asked earlier in the weekend if he could have assistance from us, which, obviously, we'd be more than happy to help him out," said Hanson Police Sgt. Michael Casey.

The end result wasn't a ticket, but a hug from her son Alan, who surprised her. Police posted the encounter on their Facebook page.

"She's the best mom I could ever ask for," Private Alan MacCallister said. "And what better way to come home, then to surprise her?"

Alan says it's been a lifelong dream to join the military. For the last six months, the role of son has played a backseat to the role of soldier.

"I couldn't be prouder.  I love him to death," Darlene said.

And while this 18-year-old says he has loved this journey, there's nothing like coming home again.

"It's amazing. It's so hard to talk about, because there's no words to fulfill it," he said. "It's an amazing feeling seeing my mom after so long."

MacCallister will return to Colorado at the end of the week. He knows he'll eventually be deployed, but will not say where.

Before all of that, though, he says there's a lot of home cooking to eat this week.

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