Surprise homecoming for Christmas
GREENWICH — A Cos Cob family got an early holiday present Thursday morning when Sean O’Donnell returned from a nearly one-year deployment overseas and surprised his two children.
Matthew, 14, and Keira, 9, knew their dad, a Greenwich police sergeant, was due to return home soon after serving with the New York National Guard stationed in Kuwait. But Kimberly O’Donnell kept the arrival time a secret, hoping to surprise the kids.
The plan worked perfectly, she recalled Thursday. “They had no idea,” said O’Donnell, a Darien school teacher. “Total surprise.”
Sean O’Donnell, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, flew in from Fort Hood, Texas, arriving at Westchester County Airport late Wednesday. He surprised the children in the morning.
“It was great,” said O’Donnell, “It was a Christmas present that was a little early. My son literally jumped up, I’ve never seen him move so fast. My daughter, I think she was in shock. She took a few seconds to process.”
O’Donnell greeted friends in the neighborhood — “great bunch people, they remind me why I serve.”
O’Donnell enjoyed a bagel for breakfast on Christmas Eve morning. He was looking forward to satisfying a craving for pizza that he developed over the past year, where he worked on anti- terrorism and force- protection objectives for the military. He earned a Bronze Star in a previous deployment overseas.
“It’s hard to get good New York style pizza” outside the tri- state region, especially not in the Persian Gulf, he said. “Pizza Hut just doesn’t cut it.”
He said the family has no immediate plans.
“I’m just going to enjoy my time with family. It’s been a year, being away, so it’s a matter of keeping company and being re- acquainted,” he said, “It’s good to be home.”