One of the most exciting times in a teenager’s life is finishing high school, and, for a parent, being able to witness their child accomplish a milestone is significantly gratifying. Sadly, not every student has the luxury of having their loved one be present for their ceremony.

Leslie Silva represents the unfortunate ones who didn’t have the opportunity to smile for her mom or dad as she earned her diploma. The El Paso resident proudly crossed the stage and later crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in her cap and gown to share her achievement with her father, Mario Silva.

Mario lives in Juárez. In 2007, he was deported to Mexico from El Paso by authorities for not having documentation, the El Paso Times reports. Mario has been deported a total of three times.

Photo credit: Lisa Silvia

The 2018 graduate’s father never had the pleasure of getting to see any of his daughters graduate high school, she mentioned in her tweets.

“He was so happy. He started crying, and I’ve never seen him cry. “He felt really honored and he thought it was really nice of me to go see him before my graduation ceremony,” she also revealed to the outlet.

Since taking to social media to share her groundbreaking story, Leslie has garnered almost 4 million views. Leslie also received thousands of tweets from those have experienced identical situations of family separation.