BY ANGELA BARENTINE, angela.barentine@cordeledispatch.com

Brooke Crews had a surprise planned for her husband Will, who would be coming home from Kuwait soon, but last Friday, the tables were turned and the surprise was on her.

Army Sgt. Williams Crews, II, has been serving in Kuwait and hasn’t seen his wife and two young sons, Aiden and Cameron, for 10 months.  He was able to secure a  return back to America earlier than anticipated and kept the news secret from his wife.  However, he did alert his mother, Trisha Bush, who cooked up a clever way to spring the surprise on Brooke and the boys.

Now, Sgt. Crews’ boys love to eat at Chick-fil-A and Grandmother Trisha knows this, so she solicited the help of the Cordele Chick-fil-A to assist her in cooking up the delightful surprise.

Through the efforts of Trish, Mary Beth McNeil, who is owner of the Cordele restaurant, and Marketing Director  Clinton Brannen, the surprise went over very successful, without a hitch!  McNeil and Brannen met at the Crisp Regional Medical Office Building in pretense of delivering a healthy eating seminar to the staff of Dr. Lynn Lyons, where Brooke is an employee.

As Mary Beth announced her topic of dicussion, she told the audience that a special guest was present to assist her with the seminar.  Out steps the big Chick-fil-A Cow with Sgt. Crews walking in close step behind him.

Now, the Chick-fil-A Cow is rather large and hid Sgt. Crews very well.  When the cow was in close proximity to the audience, Will stepped out from behind to deliver shock and awe to Brooke, who was overcome with strong emotions and tears.  As a matter of fact, there were many tears flowing from many people in the audience at their union.

After all was calm, the next stop was to the First Baptist Daycare, where Will and Brooke’s four-year-old son Aiden attends.  The Cow made his appearance and the children were thrilled.  Next Sgt. Crews entered the room and little Cameron was quick to spot his daddy and hopped up like lightning to run to him.  More tears began to flow.

On the final stop of this three-part surprise, the group went over to the Crisp County Primary School, where once again, the Cow was a huge hit.  The children squealed at his presence, but he was no match for the presence of Sgt. Crews, who stepped into the classroom, when six-year- old Aiden eyed his father and screamed “Daddy!”  The cow was history and Aiden was soon scooped up into his father’s arms.  You guessed it! More tears began to flow.

After all was calm again, the happy united family met for lunch at, where else, Chick-fil-A, where other family members were waiting to celebrate with them.

Welcome home, Sgt. William Crews, and thank you for your service.