(ABC News)--While many families attended the 2013 Rose Parade in Pasadena,
Calif., on New Year's Day, military wife Miriam Pazz wished her husband
could join her and their 4-year-old son in the stands.
What Pazz didn't know was that her husband, Army Sgt. First Class
Eric Pazz, was hidden on a nearby parade float and about to give them
the best possible start to the New Year.
Miriam Pazz had been told she had won a contest to attend the parade
and did not know her husband, who is deployed in Afghanistan, would be
there.
"My husband just entered his name, I guess. I just got a call letting
me know that we won," Pazz said moments before the surprise reunion.
Spectators rose to a standing ovation when Army Sgt. First Class Eric
Pazz, who was riding on the Natural Balance Pet Foods float along with
other service members, got off the float and walked over to his
surprised wife and son Eric Jr.
The family immediately lunged out of the stands and embraced the
32-year-old soldier, who was away from his family for seven months. Pazz
handed his wife a red rose.
"It was a really great experience," said Pazz. "First thing I thought
was, ‘I hope she's not going to slap me for lying to her.' After that,
seeing our son's face, how he reacted, I was really caught up into the
moment."
Pazz is a highly decorated soldier who has also served in Iraq. The
family, who currently lives in Germany, climbed aboard the float for the
rest of the five-mile parade route.
Copyright 2012 by ABC News
