Jonathan Gillis likes surprises, the bigger and more elaborate, the better.
Go big is his motto.
Gillis, 32, a Texas Army National Guard sergeant, was supposed to be in Afghanistan on Sunday but instead was at the finish line of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon waiting for his wife, a bouquet of flowers in hand.
Giselle Gillis, stunned after running 13.1 miles in the half-marathon event, ran straight into his arms, surrounded by photographers who had been tipped ahead of time to the reunion. They embraced in a long kiss, Giselle sweaty and out of breath. She then she began to sob.
They hadn't seen each other in 11 months and eight days.
“This is so amazing,” said Giselle Gillis, 27. “I can't even believe it.”
The homecoming came after an eight-month duty tour in eastern Afghanistan that saw its share of action. Miraculously, no one was killed or injured in combat, but his infantry battalion lost one man, a Rhode Island National Guard soldier who was run over by an armored vehicle while pulling a little girl out of the way.
Gillis likes to say he always wants to top the last romantic operation.
There was the time he bought Giselle, a first-time skydiving lesson over San Marcos, the one she thought was a college graduation present.
“She was incredibly psyched to jump out of a plane for the first time; me, on the other hand, not so thrilled at all,” said Gillis, who has a fear of heights.
“I jumped out first, landed first and as she burned in, I dropped to a knee and popped the question,” he added. “Of course, through tears of joy, she gave me a ‘Hell, yes.'”
Back then, he called it “Operation Deep Sky” and was a perfect treat for a woman who loves romantic overtures.
“I suppose it's a way for us to keep the spark in things between her and I, plus we're a bit of adventurist/adrenaline junkies,” said Gillis, who served in the Iraq invasion, occasionally on the front lines. “I also think there's a small child living in us that always wants the joy of being surprised.”
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