It’s no question our military men and women make huge sacrifices to protect our freedoms. Their families make huge sacrifices as well, oftentimes not seeing their loved ones for long periods of time.

In the video below, you’ll meet a little girl named Maci whose father was deployed, and she missed him very much. That’s why she got very excited when he sent her a gift, and it ended up being better than she ever expected!

Maci is very close to her dad, so it was very difficult for her when he was deployed. She missed him so much that she even started sleeping with a stuffed animal who she called her “Daddy Doll,” which she depended on to keep her nightmares at bay while her dad was gone.

The video below opens with Maci’s mother telling her that there was a surprise waiting for her. Maci held her daddy doll tightly under one arm as she made her way to the surprise.

When her mom asked her what surprise she thought she was going to get, Maci said she’d probably get cookies. Not disputing this, her mom simply told her that the surprise was right outside the front door.

When Maci opened the front door, she saw a huge box that was much taller than she was! To the little girl, it was just a big box of cookies, and her mother told her to unwrap it. Her mom ended up having to help her with the unwrapping, as Maci did not know where to start!

“Can you knock on it? Say ‘Cookies,'” her mother said when it was unwrapped.

When Maci knocked on the gift, she was stunned to see that it was her dad! Still dressed in his military uniform, the little girl’s dad opened a panel on the box and said hello to Maci, who promptly fell over with excitement!

This is definitely a surprise that Maci will never forget!