ELIDA, OH (WLIO) -Â A special surprise at the Elida Volleyball Military Appreciation game left very few dry eyes in the gymnasium.
Emotions were already running high for JV Volleyball freshman Taylor Shattuck. It was her team's first home game of the season, playing their rival Shawnee, and she was thinking about her dad, who was deployed in Iraq, through the military appreciation ceremony. But what she didn't know was that while she was on the court, her dad was actually in the building. Taylor was the last to hand out her carnation, but as she gives the flower to her mom, her coach tells her to turn around.
"It was kind of just a total surprise because I was already just bawling. I was like, 'Dang, I wish he was here right now,' and then I turn around and he's like, there. He was my number one supporter and still is. And he always was there for me when I needed him. It was hard to do that through the phone," she recalled of the moment her dad snuck up behind her.
Taylor's siblings, Payton and Connor, didn't know that he'd be coming either. When Robert Shattuck appeared, the whole family couldn't get him into their arms quickly enough.
"My heart felt like it was stopped. I was very shocked and then I started tearing up immediately. Super happy, and then I ran right for him. I'm just glad that everybody came to see this. That I didn't know about but my friends did, didn't spoil it. And a lot of people's respect from this," said Elida 7th grader Connor Shattuck.
While everyone was watching Taylor compete, with no idea of what was about to happen, her father was hiding in the school, counting the minutes until he could see his wife and kids again.
"That was a challenge to keep it you know kind of a secret. We found out kind of last minute when I would be home so it wasn't something I had to stew on, but yeah, it was difficult. The last two hours was the hardest probably. Knowing that they were inside and I was outside. But it was worth it in the end, so it was good," said Ohio Army National Guard 1st Sgt. Robert Shattuck.
Now that they're all together, one of the first things the Shattuck family plans to do is go out to the Allen County Fair.
