Soldier travels cross country to surprise mom in Rochester

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — A soldier traveled cross country to surprise his mom who lives here in Rochester. The emotional moments were caught on camera, and the video went viral on social media.

Sgt. Adam Mazzeo, with the United States Army, set up his camera inside Pixley’s Restaurant in Gates. His mom, Helen Beveridge was in the zone at work and walked right past him the first time. She cried in excitement when she realizes who was at the table. In an emotional reunion, Helen hugged her son and didn’t want to let go. She was almost in tears, telling us about Adam.

"He touches so many people, this kid still opens the door for me," Beveridge said. "There is always some surprise, some positive thing, he just loves me so much and I love him to death, I do.”

The video, made on the TikTok platform went viral on social media. Getting millions of views. Adam said he loves his mom just as much.

"I’m happy that she gets to share in this, she’s like America’s mom right now,” Mazzeo said.

When I told Mazzeo how his mom explained her experience, he wasn’t surprised.

News10NBC Reporter Stephanie Duprey: "She said, the biggest takeaway for me is something positive happened, and it made me smile, I love my children, and she said, I wish that for other people.”

Mazzeo: “Ya, that’s a Helen response.”

Mazzeo said he’ll be stationed in California for a while, but won’t ever miss an opportunity to come back to his roots here in Rochester to surprise his family, including their cat, Archie.