Happy homecoming surprise

Brandon Cothrum and his daughter, Aaliyah, embrace as he surprises her by returning home from deployment.

Brandon Cothrum of Phil Campbell got something he wanted on Friday – he got to hold his six-year-old daughter Aaliyah in his arms for the first time since October.
The 2000 Phil Campbell High School grad is a soldier in the United States Army. He rotated home from Afghanistan just a few days ago.
Cothrum and his wife, Erica, decided to surprise Aaliyah in the library of West Elementary School Friday morning. The little girl had no idea she would be seeing her daddy in person that day.
The Cothrums hid behind a side door in the library while Aaliyah’s class filed in and sat on the rug. Erica Cothrum then came out under the guise of reading the class a story, which she did do later.
With Erica Cothrum and Aaliyah’s four-year-old sister, Anna Faye, sitting in front of the group, a signal was given for Brandon to come out of hiding and greet his daughter.
Aaliyah’s face lit up as she locked eyes on her father, and the two ended up in a warm embrace on the library rug.
The excitement of the reunion was apparent on the faces on everyone involved but none more so than Cothrum and his young girl.
Tears of joy were choked back all around the library among the family and the faculty that had come to witness the event.
Erica Cothrum held to her word and did read the story for the children, but she did so with her husband holding onto his daughters for the entire story.
“I can’t explain it,” Brandon Cothrum said about the feeling of being home and seeing his family. “I’ve been looking forward to this since October. I’ve been wanting to come hold [my girls].”
“I am overwhelmed, excited and surprised,” Erica Cothrum said of seeing her husband.”
The quartet quickly left the school to enjoy their brief time together before Cothrum rotates back to Afghanistan. Aaliyah had to be checked out from school, but the reason behind her being picked up was more than enough justification to let the little girl go for the day.