Soldier surprises sister during college graduation
Central Michigan University graduate LaDyra Lyte had not seen her brother for nearly a year
A soldier and his sister have gone viral after he returned from a deployment to surprise his sibling at her college graduation.
Central Michigan University graduate LaDyra Lyte, 23, had not seen her brother LaDaryl Lyte, 22, for nearly a year since he deployed with the U.S. Army Reserve. So imagine her surprise when she was walking to the stage during CMU’s commencement ceremony Saturday and the school’s president began to read a letter from LaDaryl, Good Morning America reports.
“I want you to tell my sister how proud I am, how gracious she is, how superlative she is, and I know that she is going to do amazing things in her life,” LaDaryl said in the letter. “She is one in a million with a special talent of knowing just how to move forward.”
LaDyra, whose degree is in fashion merchandising and design, became visibly emotionally listening to the letter. The moment was captured in a video the school shared on Facebook. Per the GMA report, LaDyra was unaware that her brother was actually inside the packed auditorium, as he was expected to miss her big day due to his commitments to the Army.
LaDaryl explained to GMA that once his leave was approved, he reached out to the university to see if there were any tickets left for the ceremony and officials suggested that his appearance be a surprise. Per the report, not all of his family members knew about his plans to attend his sister’s college graduation.
“They had me show up to the graduation two hours early so they could hide me upstairs so my family wouldn’t see me,” he said of the college officials. “The night before I couldn’t even sleep because I was nervous.”
During the ceremony, as the president read LaDaryl’s letter, the soldier made a grand entrance.
“And the letter goes on and on and on, so let me do this, LaDyra, talk to him about it,” the school president remarked as LaDaryl walked up behind his sister as the crowd cheered and clapped.
When LaDyra turns around and sees her brother, they give each other a big hug. Their father was also surprised to see LaDaryl and he ran down from the stands to embrace him.
“My dad doesn’t run anymore. He has bad knees,” said LaDyra. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
“I got like 10 feet away from my sister and I heard my family start screaming and then the whole crowd started screaming and clapping,” LaDaryl shared with GMA. “After that, it was kind of a blur because my adrenaline was rushing. I remember hugging her and then one moment I’m standing there and then the next moment I’m in the air and I hear my dad’s voice.”
According to the report, the siblings’ older sister and their mom, Alisha Lyte, were in on the surprise.
“For a moment I thought I’m dreaming,” LaDyra told GMA about her memorable graduation ceremony. “I just felt, just really overwhelmed,” she added, “in a good way.”
Two days before the graduation, LaDaryl surprised his mother at her house when he jumped out of the bushes “and scared the living daylight out of me,” she said.
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