VIDEO: The entire crowd gasped when they saw what he was doing

Having a parent that serves in the army can be an extremely difficult time for any child, especially if they are rather young. 9-year-old Addie Rodriguez got to experience this first-hand during her performance as a cheerleader for the Central Catholic High School in San Antonio, Texas.

Addie’s father, Senior Airman Michael Locklear, is an active military member that served both in Afghanistan and Iraq and who at the time of Addie’s performance was training in California. The training was an extremely rough time for Addie, as she struggled with missing her father a lot. “She’s really tough and understands that dad goes away for a reason,” said Alexis Perry-Rodriguez, Addie’s mom.

Nevertheless, Addie did have issues coping with the absence of her father at her cheer-leading performance, especially because there was a moment when all the fathers picked up their daughter and put them on their shoulders. When she saw all her colleagues together with their fathers, Addie was extremely sad and all that she wished for was for her dad to be there with her as well.

”It was really heartbreaking to see your daughter standing out there being the only one without her father”, Alexis further added.

”I just felt like, really sad, ’cause I miss him a lot,” Addie confessed to the camera.

Little did Addie imagine that a stranger would come to the rescue and brighten up her day more than she could have ever imagined.

”I ran down and I just hopped the fence and I went over, I kneeled down and I talked to her and I said, ‘Are you ok?’,” senior Matthew Garcia declared.

In a superb act of kindness and generosity, Matthew acted like Addie’s father for the event and lifted her onto his shoulders, giving her the opportunity to experience something that she truly wanted and that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

“And then I realized what he was doing and my heart just melted, I mean, it was just the most beautiful thing,” Addie’s mother concluded.

“I’m glad I could help make her day”, Matthew modestly concluded his statement as well.

“I just felt like somebody had saved my life. I thought that was so nice,” Addie spoke about her experience.

The incredible gesture made by Matthew Garcia shows that there are still kind and generous people who can think beyond themselves and make someone’s day so much better than they had originally foreseen, especially in these kinds of emotional and difficult situations. Addie’s situation is not the only one, with thousands of children all across the United States suffering from their parents’ absence when they are deployed in the army.

This is a truly inspiring story, and one that should serve as an example to all of us. It is not only a reminder to appreciate our parents while they are still next to us, but also something to think over regarding all of our personal connections and the way we tackle our friends and other people, including strangers.