This Christmas story is not the one you know from the movies. This one comes from Michigan and has a boy (if by "boy" turning 51 on Monday counts) named Ralph and is true.

Ralph is a career U.S. Navy warrant officer currently based in San Antonio. His parents, brothers and sister live in Michigan. His two children, both 18,  live in Ohio. In 2008, Ralph was loaned out to the U.S. Army and assigned to training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. (He tells me Navy guys with Army assignments say they are in the N'army.)

In January, he's scheduled to go to Iraq. He visited his family at Thanksgiving. They thought it would be the last get together until late October or early November of next year, when he is schedule to return to the states.

But he decided to surprise his mom on Christmas Eve. Then he got a surprise, too: His daughter, Kirsten, who is scheduled to leave the country for a civilian job in Europe next month, was visiting his mom.

I've seen a lot of surprise reunions of military people with family members on video, but I've never seen one in real life.

Watching the wonder in Kirsten's eyes when she saw her dad, and hugged him, and seeing the wonder turn to happy tears was a pretty fine Christmas moment.

I hope your Christmas was as happy as that.