On the day before Veterans Day, a 2024 Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES graduate stationed in Germany for the U.S. Air Force for the past year returned to BOCES to surprise his sister in her classroom.
Graduate Brendan Parow greeted student McKenzie Parow on Monday, Nov. 10, and they shared a long, emotional hug, as family members and the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services class looked on.
McKenzie Parow said their mother visited him in Germany in August, and she tried to get added to the trip last-minute, but it was too late, so she had been feeling regret and missing him.
“When I saw him, all that just went away, and I got to hug him, and everything was OK,” McKenzie Parow said.
Brendan Parow, who attended Poland Central School District, graduated from the Herkimer BOCES Conservation program in 2024 and is now an airman first class (A1C) in the Air Force. His sister McKenzie Parow, who attends West Canada Valley Central School District, is currently a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program.
Family members worked with Herkimer BOCES staff members and Child Family Services instructor Sarah Schubert to organize the surprise. Also in attendance were their mother Tara McCormick, father Carl Parow, stepmother Erin Jackson, brother Aaron Parow, Child Family Services students and Herkimer BOCES Conservation program instructor William Carpenter, who taught Brendan Parow at BOCES.
When McKenzie Parow first stepped into the classroom, she first saw her mother and then other family members and thought she was in trouble. Then, Brendan Parow stepped out and surprised her.
Brendan Parow, who will be home for about a month, had told his sister that he was denied a visit and wouldn’t be able to come back until sometime in 2026.
After their warm greeting, McKenzie Parow joked that she didn’t know whether to smile or cry and whether to hug him or slap his shoulder for lying to her about being denied the visit.
Brendan Parow said it felt good to surprise his sister after all the excitement leading up to it with the planning, a long flight, a long drive and a long wait.
“It’s great when you finally get home and see everybody – especially when it’s a big surprise for one of them,” he said.
Tara McCormick said McKenzie Parow has been dealing with a lot this year including transferring from Poland to West Canada Valley. During the time apart, McKenzie Parow would go through Brendan Parow’s clothes and “borrow” hoodies. At Christmas, they Facetimed and projected him onto a TV screen, so they could interact with him and even take pictures with him on the screen.
Now, the siblings are back together in person.
“It was heartwarming. A lot of emotion,” Tara McCormick said. “I was just really happy that she got that moment because she’s been missing him a lot. They’re very close.”
Brendan Parow (right), a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, returned to BOCES on Monday, Nov. 10, to surprise his sister McKenzie Parow (left) in her Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services class.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, returned to BOCES on Monday, Nov. 10, to surprise his sister McKenzie Parow in her Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services class. Pictured, from left, they pose with their family members: mother Tara McCormick, McKenzie Parow, Brendan Parow, father Carl Parow, stepmother Erin Jackson and brother Aaron Parow.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, and his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, share a hug on Monday, Nov. 10, after Brendan Parow surprised his sister by returning home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, and his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, share a hug on Monday, Nov. 10, after Brendan Parow surprised his sister by returning home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, and his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, share a hug on Monday, Nov. 10, after Brendan Parow surprised his sister by returning home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
Brendan Parow and McKenzie Parow pose with McKenzie’s classmates in the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Child Family Services program on Monday, Nov. 10.
Brendan Parow (right), a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, poses with Herkimer BOCES Conservation instructor William Carpenter on Monday, Nov. 10.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, surprises and greets his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, on Monday, Nov. 10, as Brendan Parow returned home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, surprises and greets his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, on Monday, Nov. 10, as Brendan Parow returned home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.
Brendan Parow, a 2024 graduate of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Conservation program, surprises and greets his sister McKenzie Parow, a junior in the Herkimer BOCES Child Family Services program, on Monday, Nov. 10, as Brendan Parow returned home for a visit from being stationed in Germany with the Air Force.