Marine dad, son celebrate holidays early ahead of deployment
NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA (WWBT) - - Birthdays, holidays, watching your child open presents under the tree on Christmas Day: These are all things that some take for granted, but for others, they're forced to be away from their family for these special moments.
Among them are the men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces.
For one Marine, the days leading up to his eventual deployment was spent making memories with his young son, celebrating the holidays he would miss while on deployment.
"They have an incredible bond," Priscilla York told NBC's TODAY Show. "If this happens when his dad leaves for just a few hours, I can only imagine how hard it's going to be when he leaves for deployment."
This is Sgt. John York's first deployment since having his son.
The celebrations began on Mother's Day earlier this month in their North Carolina community, which was then followed by a Halloween outing where dad and Bryson went door-to-door trick-or-treating, all while wearing his "Paw Patrol" costume and his dad at his side.
Christmas also came early in the York home, with Santa leaving an assortment of presents under the tree, just like on Christmas morning, TODAY reports.
They even celebrated young Bryson's birthday, complete with cake and a brand-new bike.
Holidays are a big deal around the York home as John's wife runs a company called Holiday Traditions, which makes holiday goodies for kids.
"When John came to me with his idea, it melted my heart," York told TODAY. "Since he did all the holidays early, I wanted to give him a really good Father's Day present."
Priscilla surprised her husband with a video compilation of their early holiday celebrations, which left the Marine speechless.
"I swear he sat on the couch and watched it on repeat over 1,000 times," York told TODAY. "It's something he's going to be able to cherish forever."
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