Mother screams with joy when her soldier’s son surprises her at the grocery store after two years apart

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on June 30, 2021 and has since been updated.

Watching your child serve their country in the military is a proud feeling for all parents, but it can also be a harrowing experience for them as they anxiously await their return. Parents often live in fear of losing their children in battle and spend much of their time desperately hoping that their children will make it out alive. Ethan Houston’s mother was no exception. Her anxiety, relief, and joy flooded out when her son surprised her while out grocery shopping. Ethan Houston was stationed in Germany and hadn’t seen his girlfriend’s mother in two years, Good News Movement reported.

In the video, Ethan Houston is seen waiting at the back of the aisle for his mother to go shopping. He is seen holding a bouquet of flowers for his mother. When he walked out to surprise her mother, her mother let out a visceral scream of joy. She was stunned to see her son standing in front of her. She was overcome with emotion when she saw her son, so she knelt down and hugged him around his belly button. He helps her before hugging her. His mother’s relief is evident in the video. She hugged him tightly and burst into tears. Onlookers and close family members applaud and celebrate the moment together.

Instagram users also choked up after watching the video. “The way she screamed, you could feel every inch of her. I almost screamed with her,” one person wrote. Another commented: “There is nothing like the love a mother has for her child. This is so beautiful.” What left a strong impression on everyone was the mother’s screams. “Ok, but now go outside. I thought someone was being murdered. She’s got some pipes.” One Instagrammer wrote, “Oh every time we meet again My eyes are watering. Another Instagrammer added: “Her screams of joy are everything.”

Homecoming can be very emotional

Emotions run high and it’s hard to watch the homecoming video without crying. Every family is different, and every family member has different expectations for such high-energy moments, but a new study shows that returning soldiers may not be good for their children. Mental health experts say that may be too much for them, The Washington Post reported. Research shows that children whose parents are veterans suffer from higher levels of anxiety and emotional problems than children raised in non-military families. A 2010 study showed that after soldiers returned home, spouses’ anxiety returned to normal, but children’s anxiety remained high. It also revealed that a third of them were experiencing “clinically significant” anxiety and needed attention from a mental health professional.

“Surprises, even positive ones, can be difficult for them and can be very emotionally taxing,” said Katherine Mogil, a clinical psychologist working on UCLA’s FOCUS project. said. Once deployed, a soldier’s behavior may also change. “Sometimes it’s for the better, and sometimes it’s for the worse,” says Stephen Xenakis, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Washington. “But you can’t go through an important event like that in your life. . . . You don’t come back a completely different person.” Parents have said they don’t mind being filmed on TV shows about soldiers coming home, such as “Homecoming,” but some mental health experts say it’s not good for soldiers. He said that it might not be so. “I would say from a policy perspective and as a senior military surgeon that I would discourage families and military from consenting to this type of filming or programming in any way,” Xenakis said. .