Rose Parade spectator Miriam Pazz was snapping photos of a float honoring military dogs when it came to an abrupt halt. A man bounded off the platform in combat boots and fatigues. It was her husband, who she thought was still in Afghanistan.
The crowd leaped up in a standing ovation as 4-year-old Eric Pazz II dashed from the sidewalk and into the arms of his father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pazz, 32. Moments later, the family locked in an embrace seen by hundreds of millions of parade viewers around the world.
"All I wanted to do was hold my wife and son and tell them how much I love them," Pazz said later. "I was lost in the moment. There was nothing going on in the world except on the ground my family was standing on."
The crowd leaped up in a standing ovation as 4-year-old Eric Pazz II dashed from the sidewalk and into the arms of his father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Pazz, 32. Moments later, the family locked in an embrace seen by hundreds of millions of parade viewers around the world.
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| Keshawna Myles, 15, slides down the American Honda "Follow Your Dreams" float. (Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times / January 1, 2013) |
"All I wanted to do was hold my wife and son and tell them how much I love them," Pazz said later. "I was lost in the moment. There was nothing going on in the world except on the ground my family was standing on."
