Two girls find ingenious way to stay connected with deployed dad: 'It melts my heart'

The Dorn family in Colorado Springs have found an extraordinarily creative way to keep the bond between their deployed father, Jason Dorn of the United States Marines, and his two daughters alive and strong. The girls, who have been staying without their dad since his deployment last September, have turned a silly, occasional shout-out to him into a daily ritual.

Their mother, Kristy Dorn, recently compiled a series of security camera footage of her daughters shouting out their love for their dad, accompanied by the tear-inducing country song My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. The post on Instagram quickly went viral, garnering 6.6 million views and over 100,000 likes. It serves as a heartwarming reminder that no matter the distance, love and connection will always prevail. “Take my heart!” one girl exclaims in one video after blowing several kisses to the camera.

“Have a great day! I love you, dad!” one of the girls yells out in another clip.

The girls also compliment their dad’s “new haircut in another cute clip.” Their mother explained that once in a while, Jason would get on the camera’s microphone and say hello to the girls if he saw that they were outside. “Every once in a while, if we were walking out, he would say hi to us through [the camera], so every time the girls would go to school or just be outside, they just kind of got in the habit of saying like ‘Hi dad, love you,’ and if he was around, he would say hi back, too,” Kristy explained to KKTV.

Kristy also explained that Jason’s deployments have been getting harder and harder for the girls to deal with as they have gotten older. She’s thankful for the technology that helps them keep in touch even if it’s just a quick “I love you.” As her husband has been away, Kristy has been doing everything in her power to make sure her girls are taken care of. To make their father's homecoming a bit more special for the girls, Dorn added a few special touches to their living room. Kristy recently shared an Instagram post showcasing the room in her home that serves as a reminder of his presence. On the wall, there is an array of items that represent their father and the fact that he is always with them, even when they can't physically be together.

“I remember standing in the hobby lobby sobbing while I pieced this together,. This has been such a good visual for our girls to try and understand it all,” she wrote. She has installed a mail bin on the wall in which the girls can place any letters they write to their dad until they are taken to the post office. Alongside this, she also affixed a letter board that displays a countdown to the day their father is set to return home.

To complete the wall, Dorn added a beautiful family portrait, and the most touching of all - a pair of blue hands, presumably their dad's imprints. She captioned the photo, "when we are sad, we wrap daddy's hands around us for a big hug." This small yet meaningful addition to their home is sure to make their father's return all the more special.