Charlotte County airman surprises daughter for Christmas

Published:

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — A Christmas wish came true for one Englewood girl Thursday night.

Two-year-old Arianna Solomon was taken to Santa’s Wonderland in the Port Charlotte Town Center, where she told Santa she wanted “daddy” for Christmas.

That’s when Senior Airman Justin Solomon came out and surprised her while she was sitting on Santa’s lap, giving her the best gift of all.

“We knew he was coming home for Christmas, but we didn’t know how we wanted to surprise her,” said Kristina Solomon, Arianna’s mother. “We talked about different ways we could do it.”

The 24-year-old has been in the Air Force for six years. He hasn’t seen his family since August and was deployed overseas last Christmas.

“She’s gone through hard times where it’d be a hard transition for her, but we’ve been talking about it a lot, and she likes to tell everyone her daddy goes to Air Force,” Kristina Solomon said.

Solomon will be here for the next two weeks. The family will be taking a road trip and are excited to spend quality time together.

“It’s nice to be with my family instead of being overseas,” he said.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.