You've seen those heartwarming videos of military members coming home and surprising loved ones, but a surprise caught on camera earlier this week is one no one in Athens will soon forget.
What started out as an ordinary day at Central Athens Elementary, was not quite so ordinary for one of its staffers, known as Ms. Lottie.
Army Sgt. Tacameo Barker's mother, Lottie Cofer, has worked for Athens Independent School District for 19 years. When he finally got stationed closer to home, he worked with the school's counselor to surprise her.
"It was a cold, dreary day and she said when I asked her how she was doing, she said 'I'm making it' and I thought it's going to be really good in a little while, you're going to get a good surprise," said school counselor Amy Wood.
And a good surprise is exactly what she got.
"He tapped me on my shoulder, said 'Momma,' and I said 'Ah' and hit the floor, and got back up and hugged him," said Cofer.
Barker has been deployed to South Korea for the past seven months.
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"My second deployment, I was stationed in North Carolina at Fort Bragg, so I didn't get a chance to come back to Texas, so now I'm stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, so now that was like the perfect opportunity to go ahead and surprise her," he said.
Barker said he wanted to show his mom just how much he loves her, because she's done so much for him over the years. Cofer became a widow with three children when Barker was just 3-years-old.
"After watching all the surprise videos, I was honestly expecting just some tears, but nah, I got a little more than some tears," he said.
Barker says now that he's home, he plans to spend as much time with family as possible. And like a true Texan, eat as much Whataburger as his stomach will allow.
