Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — For more than 50 nursing students at Goodwin College in East Hartford, Connecticut, Thursday night is one they won't forget.
That is especially true for one student: Kate Sobieraj.
Sobieraj graduated after four tough years and her family was there to see it all. But one person was missing — or at least that's what Kate thought.
One by one, each graduate came up to the front of the room to receive a pin.
When it came time for Kate to get hers, she was greeted by an unexpected guest: her brother.
The U.S. Marine got special permission to leave his base in North Carolina to see his sister graduate. The siblings hadn't seen each other in a year.
"I never expected him to be here, and here he was," Kate said. "Best moment ever."
Dylan Lefebvre, who is just 19, said he wouldn't have missed it for the world.
I never expected him to be here and here he was.
–Kate Sobieraj
"She's been working at this for four years now and I did everything in my power to be here and here I am," Lefebvre said.
Their mother had been planning the secret reunion for weeks.
"It's been tough, but worth every minute of planning," Shannon Zavecz said.
After four tough years, Kate is now a nurse and she said when she saw her brother, it made it all worth it.
"My brother is my best friend," she said. "There's no one I'd rather have here. This was the most incredible surprise."
