Valentine's Day is all about love,
and there is nothing I love more than surprising people.
Last month we had a big surprise for someone in my audience,
and it may be one of my favorite surprises of all time.
Take a look.
As you know, my birthday is this week,
and I've been getting a lot of amazing letters
from my viewers.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
So I want to read one of the letters that I've gotten.
Good morning, Ms. Ellen.
My name is Noah Copeland, and I'm a supply officer
in the United States Navy.
First of all, I want to wish you a happy birthday.
I'm currently deployed overseas, but I
make sure my girlfriend keeps me up
to date on what's happening with the show.
My beautiful girlfriend, Maura, has got to be your biggest fan.
She watches your show every day, and I
know that you're the reason that she's
been able to get through this deployment.
I was supposed to come back at the end of January,
but things keep getting pushed back,
and now I'm not sure when I'm going to be home.
Since I can't be there with her, I
know nothing would make her happier
than getting to celebrate your birthday with you at your show.
Either way, thanks for keeping my girl company while I'm away.
We love you.
And Maura's here.
Come here, Maura.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hello.
Hi!
Hey, Maura.
Where do you live?
Oh, my god.
Oh, here.
Let me give you--
Sorry.
--that.
I live in San Diego, California right now,
but we moved here about a year and a half ago.
From?
Massachusetts.
Yeah.
So you moved to San Diego, and then he
got deployed pretty much right away, right?
Yeah.
Five months after.
So did you have friends there?
Did you know anybody there?
No.
So it was all just really all of a sudden.
Like, he went into work on a Friday,
and then he came home from work that Friday,
and they were like, you are going on Sunday.
So he had two days to pack up his whole life basically
and just leave for a year.
And he's been gone for over a year right now.
Oh my God.
That's so hard.
Yeah.
And where is he now?
It's called Diego Garcia.
It's an island, like, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
And it's like a military-owned island,
so even if I wanted to go visit, I can't go visit him,
and he can't--
And you can't meet halfway or anything.
No.
Oh my God.
So you watch the show, and does he also watch the show?
Or do you make him watch the show?
No.
[LAUGH]
I'm, like, a huge fan.
I-- I can't even--
can't believe this is happening right now.
But because I am such a fan, I made him a fan.
Basically, we've been watching together.
While he's been away, I will FaceTime him when I'm watching.
What, you're FaceTiming while you're watching the show?
And so he's watching it with you, FaceTime?
Yeah.
That's expensive, isn't it?
Aw!
[LAUGH]
I know.
That's so sweet.
All right.
And so when is he coming home?
He just said it keeps getting pushed back.
Yeah.
We don't know.
Especially because the government just shut down,
all the flights that were leaving there got
canceled, and he can't leave.
So I have no idea when he is coming home.
You know, the ripple effect of the government getting
shut down, you think it's one thing,
and it's like, even that, that's horrible.
It's really sad.
All right.
Well, he said he wanted you to be at my birthday show, right?
Yeah.
This is not my birthday show, but I want
you to be at my birthday show.
No way.
So bring Maura the tickets to the birthday show.
What?
Yes!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC- KANYE WEST, "HOMECOMING"]
[INAUDIBLE]
Maura, Noah, come on down.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Oh, that was so much fun for me.
That was hilarious, because when I said--
I called the tickets out, and you were hugging me so hard.
And I was trying to turn you around, because you were just
hugging me.
And I was like, he's behind you!
You got me crying again already.
It was so sweet, though.
What's it like-- so that was the first time
you saw each other in a while.
That was the first time--
seeing her on the screen, I was crying back there
and I was like, no, get it together.
My knees are shaking.
I have to walk out.
I'm like, I don't want to fall.
Get it together.
So when I came out, nobody was here.
The crowd wasn't here.
The cameras, nothing.
It was just me and her in that moment, and it was perfect.
That's so sweet.
And how's it been being back together again for a while?
It's awesome.
I mean, it was such a long time being apart.
I just am so thankful that you guys gave us this opportunity
to just be together again.
And I'm just so happy he's home.
It's so nice spending our time together.
So you're home for how long?
For two years.
Two years.
And at some point, you'll be deployed again.
Maybe.
I don't know.
I haven't checked in my job yet, so I don't know yet.
But hopefully, I'm just here for the next two years
so I can spend as much time with her as I can.
That's so great.
We had you back because you're such a cute couple,
and it's Valentine's Day.
What plans do you have for Valentine's Day?
Our big plans-- we really don't have any.
However, we're going to go to the store, get some food,
cook dinner, you know, throw our phones away, turn the TV off,
and just reconnect, you know?
I've been gone for a year, and I just
want to reconnect with her.
You know, the little things are what's important.
That's the best kind of night.
That is going to be great.
All right.
We got you a little something.
Aw!
Oh, that's so cute.
That's cute, right?
Yeah.
All right.
And also, our friends at Shutterfly
love supporting military families.
They want to help you create memories by giving you $10,000.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Ellen!
Thank you so much!
You're welcome.