Sydney Ross had just returned to her job at the front desk of Tooele City’s Pratt Aquatic Center on Thursday, having finished hosting a birthday party for her daughter, Addison, at the pool.
To her surprise, a few family, friends and neighbors that hadn’t attended the party began to trickle into the lobby. More confused than suspicious, Sydney Ross asked her neighbor, Gene Buell, what he was doing there.
Buell told Sydney Ross he was there to get nachos, but then she spotted the real reason for the impromptu gathering: her husband, Utah National Guard Sgt. Todd Ross, was home early on leave from Africa.
She let out an excited scream and sprinted across the lobby and into his arms.
Todd Ross, of Stansbury Park, was flanked by family and friends, with his daughters, 4-year old Addison and 18-month-old Bailee, who spotted their dad in the parking lot, in tow. His teary-eyed wife stayed wrapped in his arms as their loved ones looked on.
Sydney Ross was expecting her husband would be home Saturday and his early appearance was the result of a plan he concocted with his mother, Heidi Ross, to surprise his wife and children. Sgt. Todd Ross is serving two, one-year tours of service with the Utah National Guard’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in Djibouti.
An elated Sydney Ross said no one was more surprised than her when she saw her husband walk into the pool lobby Thursday night.
“We’ve been waiting for a long time for this,” she said. “It was nice that everyone came.”
Sgt. Todd Ross told his wife the plan was to arrive on Addison’s fourth birthday, which was June 27, but arrived early so she’d get her birthday wish: that her dad would be home. Sydney Ross said they celebrated Addison’s birthday early so they could throw a welcome home party when he came in.
Even being able to come home during the two-year tour overseas wasn’t guaranteed when he left last December, Todd Ross said. Two promotions on the deployment earned him the rank of sergeant and allowed him the opportunity to get a 15-day break.
“It’s hard being away but I love what I do,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Pulling off the surprise took a lot of work on the part of Heidi Ross, who paid attention to every detail in convincing Sydney Ross it would be a couple more days before her husband came home — including a fake travel itinerary.
Heidi Ross said she created an altered copy of the real travel itinerary, replacing the actual flight plans with the details of real flights from Djibouti two days later. It turned out to be a necessary rouse; Sydney Ross checked a few of the flights on the fake itinerary to see if there were any changes to the schedule.
“I looked up one of the flights,” Sydney Ross said. “She knew I was going to look, that’s why she chose those.”
Other snags attempted to derail the homecoming as well.
Todd Ross nearly didn’t get off base to make his flights after it was locked down due to an external threat. Heidi Ross said she didn’t let anyone know her son was coming home early until he was on a flight to Duluth, Minnesota for fear he might get called back.
Other pitfalls popped up along the way, including Heidi Ross needing to pick up the cake for Addison’s party and the airline losing Todd Ross’s bags. Family was also sent to tidy up the home for his arrival.
Heidi Ross said there had been a different plan for Todd Ross to surprise his family at a Salt Lake Bees game Friday, but the lobby reunion worked out well.
“Now he gets an extra day with his family,” she said.
With all of the moving parts in the plan he hatched with his mother, Todd Ross said he wasn’t sure they’d be able to pull it off without Sydney Ross learning about it.
“I was afraid she would figure it out,” he said.
Being able to pull off the surprise was fun despite all of the potential pitfalls, Todd Ross said.
“It was really cool to come home and surprise your family,” he said.
Flying across multiple time zones with little rest meant Todd Ross was likely going to crash after the excitement of spending time with family and friends wore off, Heidi Ross said.
“I think the adrenaline will carry him through,” she said.
Todd Ross had a lot to look forward to once he arrived home, including the Texas-style brisket his mother promised him. He said he had a picture of the brisket on his phone, which only increased the anticipation.
The reunion was small but had poignant and fun moments. A comment was made about the size of Todd Ross’s biceps, which he said was the result of having nothing better to do on the base than go to the gym.
Todd Ross also took a moment to marvel at his youngest, Bailee, who was walking all over the lobby. He said she was barely able to walk when he was deployed six months ago
“She wasn’t able to do that when I left,” he said.
Todd Ross now has 15 precious days to create new memories before he returns to the service of his country and the job he loves.