We love celebrating military families,
and this video of an army sergeant surprising his mom
during a high school pep rally is one of the many reasons why.
Take a look.
I'm here to surprise my mom.
I haven't seen her in two years, but I did a year in Korea.
So this is exciting, highly anticipated, and just glad
to get as much support as I got.
So yeah, I'm nervous.
[LAUGHS]
[CHEERING]
Why did you lie to me?
[LAUGHS]
From Atlanta, Georgia, please welcome Shakir
and his mom, L.J. Hi, you, two.
Hi.
I'm so happy to meet you both.
We're happy, too.
That was the sweetest thing that you did.
That was amazing.
So you were away for two years.
Yes.
Yes, I was.
Yeah.
And I know that you cried for, like,
two months when you dropped him off.
I did.
Yeah.
That must have been hard.
It was.
Honestly, I was so vocal about how much I missed him
that I was ready to start a support group.
I was on Facebook.
I was on Instagram.
I was telling all my friends.
And I wanted to start a support group
for moms of kids who were away at college
or going into the military, because this is my baby.
I had him when I was young, and we grew up together.
Yes.
This is literally my best friend.
And when we was in the airport that last moment,
it was really tough just seeing her be emotional,
and also with me being emotional.
It's a pretty touchy topic.
I'm sorry.
But no, I knew, at that very moment,
that I was going to come home and just give her the most
biggest surprise ever.
But I didn't know it was going to be this big.
It went viral.
It was amazing.
Yeah, when we saw it, we wanted to have you on.
So you're an officer at a high school, right?
Yes.
OK.
And so your students-- you said your students helped
you get through this.
Yes.
In a way, they were my therapy.
I took all the energy from missing Shakir,
and I just poured it into them.
I gave them love.
I gave them a listening ear, if they needed that.
And they gave me love back.
Some of the kids--
some of them come from hard lives.
Some of them are hungry.
Some of them needed shoes.
I bought them shoes.
I bought them meals after school sometimes.
And I even gave them a ride home.
And whenever Shakir would FaceTime me,
I would share it with whatever kid was
in my office or my co-workers.
So everybody knew him, because I missed him so much.
Well, they love you.
Thank you.
And they made this for you.
[GASPS]
Officer Williamson-- that's my best friend.
We all love her.
It's like, any time you're having
a bad day, hey, Officer Williamson,
I need to tell you something.
And she's like, yep.
Sit down.
Come on.
Officer Williamson is a resource officer in our school,
but she is way more than that.
When I think, or when I hear Officer Williamson's name,
I'll be like, oh, that's my mama.
She's the mother of our school, and she's always
making sure that we are good.
I can just say, hey, ma!
Any time-- walk into the office, ma, what you doing?
She's like, hey, baby!
Officer Williamson buys us food, snacks.
She gives us money if we need it-- but not too much,
you know.
Sometimes I have low self-esteem about myself,
and she just encourages me, and builds me, and just
tells me that I'm beautiful.
She's better than a counselor.
You can really go to her, and you can talk to her and stuff.
It's just a lot.
I just-- I really love her.
A time when she helped me was when
my mom lost my little brother, and I was sad.
And she was there to lift me up.
And I needed someone to talk to, and she was always there
to talk to me.
And she really helped me get through that tough time--
that tough period.
She's family.
And when you're family, we take care of each other.
And she means so much, because she cares.
[CHEERING] They love you.
We'll be back.
We have two boxes here.
And one is something that you really need,
L.J. One is something that Shakir really needs.
And the problem is, Shakir is in the army,
so he can't receive gifts.
So I'm going to give L.J.--
they're both going to you.
You can do whatever you want with them.
You can keep them.
You can share one.
But we're just not allowed to give him anything.
So they're both going to go to you.
So L.J., first of all--
oh, I should tell you something first.
I'm partnering with Hyundai to celebrate people who make
life better for communities.
We think you're both doing that, and we
want to make your life better.
So this one is--
L.J., open this up.
That's--
[SCREAMS AND LAUGHS]
All right.
That's $30,000, so your debt is paid off.
Oh, my God!
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
All right.
It has Shakir's name, but we can't give him a gift.
So we'll give it to you, and you can do whatever you want.
Thank you.
All right.
Open Shakir's box.
Let's see.
[SCREAMS]
That is the key to your brand new Hyundai Sonata.
Come on over.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Oh, my God!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Get inside.
I can't even sit--
Here, here.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
How about that?
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
You are going to love this car.
The Hyundai Sonata is sleek, stylish from the inside
and out, with all the best new technology.
We love you.
Thank you for everything you're doing for us.
Thank you!
We'll be right back.
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos,
like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things--
like ball peen hammer--
and also some videos of Ellen and other celebrities,
if you're into that sort of thing.
[SHOUTS]
[SCREAMS]
[BLEEP] God!
[BLEEP]