Son reunites with his soldier father at magic show

Army Major Tim Christensen from Connecticut had been away from his family for 13 months serving in Afghanistan. His 9-year-old son Ethan had been counting down the days of his dad's return -- not expecting him to get back until next week. But Major Christensen had a surprise in mind. Here's WVIT: "After a hug that went on and on, the family's joy spilled out into the hallway and it was hard to tell who was wearing the bigger smile."

The happy reunion took place at a YMCA summer camp. Ethan was chosen to take part in a magic trick.

The magician asked Ethan,"What kind of hat do you call that? Do you know?" He answered, "A military hat." The magician promptly replied, "Well you better return it to that guy behind you. You want to just give it to that guy?"

And his father, Major Christensen, was waiting behind him, and Ethan did not want to let his father go.

Of course, Major Christensen is excited to finally spend time with his son. He told WTIC, "Now I get to wrestle him and rough him up a little bit."

Ethan's 11-year-old sister Emily had also been anticipating her dad's arrival -- so Christensen made sure to surprise her as well. Her father waited on a bench as she left her Summer music camp.

Major Christensen has been in the army for nearly 20 years. This was his third deployment, and was recently awarded a Bronze star.