A year can seem like an eternity when you’re a kid – which is how it must have felt for Tristan and Lilly Pagliuca, who were reunited with their father, after not seeing him in person for a year.

Specialist Matthew Pagliuca, of the U.S. Army, surprised Tristan, 7, and Lilly, 4, by popping out of a large box on stage in the John W. Decas Elementary school’s cafeteria, during Thursday’s afternoon lunch period. PrincipalNoonan preceeded the festivities with a small poem, and a fake raffle rigged so that Tristan’s name would be pulled by a person dressed as Santa Claus.

Bethany Pagliuca said she had told Tristan’s teacher about her husband coming home for the holidays, and, together with Noonan, she and the staff had orchestrated the surprise.

“Everybody just got on board,” Pagliuca said. “It still doesn’t feel real. [The kids] had no clue.”

But it didn’t just feel surreal for Bethany Pagliuca. Matthew Pagliuca said Lilly still didn’t believe he was home. After her initial excitement, the four-year-old wouldn’t look at her dad.

“She asked, ‘Is he going back to Korea?’” Noonan said.

Though Pagliuca will have to pack up and leave for Washington state’s Fort Lewis in 30 days, it will be with his family.

“[The kids] are always excited to move,” Pagliuca said. “Every time we move, they are always excited. I don’t know why. … They may just like new experiences.”

Noonan said she was glad the school’s staff could help make it a big deal for Tristan and Lilly, “because it is a big deal.”

“This kind of thing doesn’t happen often, and, when it does, it’s important to send the message to the students about the importance of the military people who are … away from their families, and serving our country,” Noonan said. “It helps teach them about family and relationships, and what we do for one another.”

The school has 20 military families, Noonan said, and still more students who can relate to absent parental figures.

“For some of our children, too, it’s not just military, where they may be away, and doing different things,” Noonan said. “One little boy came up to me and said, ‘Yeah, it is really great. I haven’t seen my dad since I was four.’”