Veteran’s Day is celebrated throughout the country with flags, prayer, and respect. For one local family it meant something even more this year — a long awaited reunion. Four Sand Springs students were reunited with their father in the homecoming of a lifetime during Pratt Elementary’s annual Veteran’s Day assembly last week.
Pratt Elementary students hosted an assembly featuring the choir singing the National anthem as well as a variety of patriotic songs, a moment of silence, tributes to each military branch, and an explanation for the Fallen Soldier Table that was displayed on stage which honors POW-MIA service members. Before the assembly was over, Principal Morgan Douglas stepped to the podium and asked four students — Presley, Canyon, Bryson, and Tristan Quinnelly — to step forward and be recognized.
“We have many students now and in the past who have been part of military families,” she said. “That takes a special kind of strength.”
Douglas relayed the boys’ father — Ryan Quinnelly, had been overseas for the past nine months before revealing that he had come home. The boys scanned the crowd before finding their father appearing from backstage — all four rushed forward with smiles wide and eyes watering. The group was joined by the boys’ mother, Piper Quinnelly, for a family reunion that will not soon be forgotten.
After the assembly was over Ryan revealed he has been to deployed several times throughout his 14-years in service but no matter how many times he’s done it, being away from home never gets easier “It’s probably the most challenging thing I’ve done especially having done this multiple times now. The first time I didn’t have any kids, the second one I had a couple of them but now with all four of these guys it’s been incredibly challenging — missing sports, missing family events, their birthdays,” said Ryan.
Piper shared her feeling of relief when she knew he was home as well as her anxiousness while waiting to finally see her husband.
“The waiting — knowing that he was in town but not home was hard too,” she said.
Ryan had said the surprise had been planned for the past three months and was originally intended to be for the boys and Piper but excitement (and planning) got the best of him.
“I wanted to surprise her too but I couldn’t keep it from her I was too excited and all the logistics that would have had to of taken place wouldn’t really work out without her knowing,” he said.
Their children, who had been kept in the dark about their father’s return displayed a range of emotion most prominently happiness. When asked how the felt when they heard Ryan was home Bryson said it was “awesome”, Canyon said he “felt rich”, Tristan said “it was crazy”, and the oldest Presley said “I was already crying” by the time he heard his dad was there.
The excitement of Canyon was obvious when his family time plan included a vacation to Hawaii — an idea mom and dad quickly put a pin in saying they may not have time for the trip just yet. A more manageable idea came from Bryson who said they were going to go to lunch and Tristan who said they were going to “have lots of family time.”
Ryan said community support during his deployment meant a great deal to him.
“I appreciate the support not just from friends and family but the whole state,” he said.
When asked what the rest of the day was going to be like the answer was obvious.
“Just spending time with my family,” Ryan said. “Nine months is a long time to be gone. There’s a lot to catch up on.”
There was one thing that was slightly upsetting to Bryson though — Ryan didn’t bring him home any rocks.
“I couldn’t bring the rocks,” Ryan explained when asked about it. “That’s something you have to get approval for.”
Thelackofgeodeswasquickly forgiven as the boys gathered around Ryan to proudly show off new backpacks and prizes they had earned from school fundraisers — one of many small things Ryan missed while away but was eager to hear all about.