Although second-grader Alyssa Whaley asked Santa for a Barbie doll for Christmas, what she said she really wanted in her letter to him was her dad.
“I want my daddy to come because I have not seen my daddy. He is in the Army,” she wrote in the letter on Dec. 11.
Santa got the letter and Tuesday, he visited Alyssa at Bethlehem Elementary, where she attends school with her sisters Hannah and Kerrigan, who are in fourth grade and kindergarten, respectively.
He brought with him a special delivery just for them: their father Derek Whaley, a corporal and medic in the U.S. Army who’s stationed in Fort Carson, Colo., and who recently returned from a tour in Iraq.
Derek arrived in North Carolina on Monday night at 8:30 p.m., he said, and stayed at a relative’s house so his children wouldn’t see him. He said he decided to surprise his kids after his former wife, Tera, told him about Alyssa’s letter.
“She was telling me about the whole thing, and we decided we wanted to surprise them,” Derek said. “I haven’t seen them since this summer, when they came to Colorado.”
Santa Claus came to Bethlehem Elementary Tuesday morning and walked into Kim Hertzler’s second grade class. He told the students he had received their letters, but he had some trouble making out the words in some of them. He began reading Alyssa’s letter, and asked the students if it sounded familiar to any of them. Alyssa raised her hand.
“Sometimes, dreams come true,” Santa said. “We have a special guest today.”
Derek walked into the classroom. When Alyssa saw her father, all she could say was “daddy,” before smiling a huge gap-toothed grin and running over to him. Alyssa leapt into his embrace, wrapping both arms and legs around him in a bear hug. She buried her head in his neck before she pulled back, and Derek gave her a kiss.
When Hertzler explained what was happening to the class, she teared up.
“Alyssa’s dad has been fighting the war (in Iraq) and he came home for Christmas,” she said.
Derek went to Kerrigan’s kindergarten classroom next to surprise her. The entire walk to the room, Alyssa remained in her dad’s embrace, her tiny arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hug.
When Kerrigan saw her dad she paused for a moment and then she, too, ran to his arms. She stared at his face for several seconds as if not believing her dad was at her school. It wasn’t until he stuck his tongue out at her that she broke into a smile and giggled.
Derek then surprised his fourth-grader, Hannah. Before entering the room, Santa asked her a question.
“Hannah, did you know your sister had a special wish for Christmas?” he asked.
Hannah nodded.
When Derek came to into the fourth grade classroom — with his two younger daughters trailing closely behind him — Hannah could only gasped. She walked quickly to him and threw her arms around him, like her sisters had.
The Whaley sisters were allowed to go spend some time with their dad Tuesday morning at school. As they left Hannah’s classroom and walked down the hallway, Alyssa stayed the closest to her father. She said she was happy she got her Christmas wish, and that she hadn’t expect it to be granted.
Derek said that he was happy he was able to make it come true.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “It feels great. This is one for the ages.”
Derek will be in town until Dec. 31 before he has to return to Colorado. He said he will have to go to Afghanistan next spring or summer.
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