It was a poignant scene at the University of West Georgia graduation as Sgt. Eva Roby, who serves in the Georgia National Guard and had been on deployment in Kosovo, made a surprise appearance to witness her son Malik Heard's milestone achievement. According to a FOX 5 Atlanta report, Heard had been under the impression that having his mother present at the ceremony was out of the question since she had been deployed overseas since January.
"I had no clue at all. I was totally blind with this. She got one on me, she got me good," Heard told FOX 5 Atlanta. The elaborate ruse included Roby turning off her phone's location and even conducting a deceptive FaceTime call with her son on the day of the graduation stating that she was still in Kosovo. She expressed that missing life events was a sacrifice she had to make while serving in the army, but she was adamant about not missing her son's graduation, an event even more momentous considering Heard is the first male in his family to graduate from college.
In a tearful reunion captured by the University of West Georgia, as Heard’s name was announced and he shook hands with faculty members, the announcer called Roby’s name, leaving her son in disbelief. A WSBTV report describes how Heard turned his head, spotted his mom and quickly ran into her arms for a long due embrace as onlookers cheered and applauded the special moment.
Roby, who works in preventative medicine for the army, admitted in her interview that the hardest part was keeping the secret, "I had to turn my [phone] location off, different things as well. But it was hard," she said. The joy in their reunion was echoed in Roby's pride as a single mother. "Being a single mom, raising him, I’m definitely patting myself on the back," Roby told FOX 5 Atlanta. This milestone is far from being Heard's final step in education. "We're not stopping here. We're going to keep going, Master's, PhD, doctorate," he said.
Both mother and son expressed their gratitude to the University of West Georgia for assisting in orchestrating the surprise, which has now become a lasting memory for the family. The university too celebrated the moment, with a congratulatory note that read, "Congratulations, Malik and Eva, on your surprise reunion and graduation from the University of West Georgia," per the report by WSBTV.
