When a new mom decided to film her daughter’s reaction to seeing her dad for the first time in a week, she had no idea of the magical moment she would capture.
Willow Fortuna quietly hit record as her 7-month-old daughter Blakely prepared for the return of her dad, who had been away on a work trip.
Fortuna told Newsweek: “Blakely just started recognizing faces, and every time one of us walks into a room, she smiles huge, so I wanted to see her reaction when her dad walked in after being away.”
Juggling the demands of full-time work and parenting often requires sacrifice. When work calls a parent away, it can be at the expense of time spent with a child.
It is a common issue. In 2018, a Harris Poll of just over 1,000 U.S. adults in full-time work commissioned by job search platform CareerBuilder found 38 percent had “missed a significant event in their child’s life due to work in the last year.”
However, there are still ample opportunities to create significant life events or moments worth revisiting. That is what Fortuna did the day she turned the camera on Blakely and waited.
The resulting footage was everything the new mom could have hoped for. In the clip, Blakely can be seen looking off camera expectantly, evidently aware something is happening.
A moment later, all becomes clear to the young tot: daddy is home. Her face is transformed from one of mild curiosity to pure joy. Blakely smiles and begins to laugh as her dad approaches, gently brushing her on the head.
“It’s safe to say she was extremely happy and missed her daddy,” Fortuna said.
It may have only amounted to a 7-second clip, but the response caught Fortuna off-guard. She was left feeling emotional at this happy reunion between father and daughter.
“It filled my heart with joy,” she said. “I love that she loves her dad.”
Fortuna was not alone in expressing delight at the footage. with several viewers taking to the comments section accompanying the clip to share similar thoughts.
“What a beautiful welcome home,” one wrote. “Aww so stinking cute,” another added. A third commented: “Soothe my weary heart, very cute. Thank you.”
“So sweet,” a fourth wrote, with a fifth adding: “Ohhhh that smile.”
This is not the first time a baby’s reaction has captured the imagination on social media.
In a similar story, a first-time mom was left in tears at her infant daughter’s reaction to her leaving the room, after she left her phone recording to capture her baby’s response.
Another mom found herself getting emotional at how her infant son reacted to seeing her as soon as he woke up from his nap.
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