Tania Dixon knew her mother was coming home. So too did every classmate and teacher the McLaurin third grader came in contact with Monday.

Dixon could hardly wait for the school day to be over so that she could prepare for her mother’s return from her tour of duty in Iraq.

So when she looked across the classroom that afternoon and spied a face she had not seen in nine long months, expressions of confusion, surprise and happiness appeared simultaneously.

On the other side of the room Audrey Dixon stood smiling, amazed at how much her daughter had changed in such a short time.

“My how my girl has grown,” Dixon said as Tania leaped from her seat with arms open.

After being apart for so long, mother and daughter spent the next several minutes embracing but not saying a word. So caught up in the moment, the two paid little attention to the audience of family and teachers holding back tears of joy in the classroom.