Siblings from California surprise their dad with a nostalgic last drive to work before he retires

In honor of his father’s retirement, a band of brothers teamed up to plan a surprise that evokes some of their most treasured childhood memories.

Matt Houlihan of San Jose, Calif., came up with the idea to celebrate his father’s tenure at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif., where he and his brother and sister attended for 41 years.

The TikTok trend inspired Matt Houlihan to do something special for his dad, with a special Houlihan family twist, he said.

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“I was scrolling through TikTok a week ago, (and) I saw a video about a group of grandchildren appearing and surprising his grandparents to sleep. The wheels kind of turned for me and my dad’s retirement was coming up. And I wanted to do something special for him,” Matt Houlihan told Fox News Digital.

Matthew Houlihan (right) joined his brothers Kelsey Houlihan (center) and Brian Houlihan (back right) to surprise their father Tim Houlihan (left) with one last car park on his last day as a school teacher. (Matt Houlihan)

Matt Houlihan’s idea required his two older sisters, Brian Houlihan and Kelsey Houlihan, to wake up early with him. his parents’ house. The idea was to do one last car park with their dad, like they did when they were kids.

The three sisters decide to kick things off by revisiting some of the “rituals” they developed while traveling in the car with their father to school.

“For about eight years, my dad drove us all to high school,” shared Matt Houlihan.

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“And then, obviously, you developed some sort of routines and rituals.”

Matt Houlihan thought about all the times he spent in the car with his sisters and dad and thought it would be a great idea to honor those memories. (Matt Houlihan)

After working out the logistics for the surprise, such as figuring out how their own children would get to school, the siblings finally worked with their mother, Stephanie Houlihan, to make the surprise a success.

The Houlihan children arrived at their family home at 6 a.m. and greeted their father with backpacks ready for a trip full of memories.

Together with their father, they made a playlist of songs they listened to driving to school Outkast’s “Hey Ya,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts in the early 2000s, was young.

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“My dad once had a CD that was just Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya’ on repeat. So, literally, it was 21 Outkast ‘Hey Ya’ songs on a CD, and we, I think we listened for it. It’s probably the only thing we listened to in the car,” said Matt Houlihan.

“He always just wants to help everyone around him.”

– Matt Houlihan

The family’s next stop was House of Bagels, their favorite bagel shop, before heading to school and the parking lot they occupied throughout high school.

When the three children were in school, Tim Houlihan would send them off to class by reciting a quote. classic movie, “Princess Bride.”

“He would always send us off by saying, ‘Have fun storming the castle,'” Matt Houlihan said, adding that he and his siblings repeated it before their father left for his last day of work.

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Tim Houlihan spent 41 years at Saint Francis High School in a variety of roles, beginning as a math teacher and bus driver and moving up to positions such as office coordinator and athletic director for the football team.

Tim Houlihan retired after 41 years at Saint Francis High School and found himself wearing all kinds of hats and stepping into different roles during his time at the school. (Matt Houlihan)

He served as dean of students and gold coach before eventually moving into a construction management role for new projects on the school’s campus.

“We actually got to tour the last building that he just completed, which was really cool to see the last kind of crown jewel that the campus coordinated and helped build,” Matt Houlihan said.

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“And, obviously, then (we) saw all the people coming and congratulates him and to see all his relations at work, as before, while we (students) were there.”

The Houlihan sisters took a video of their father’s last day of school and shared it on TikTok. (Matt Houlihan)

Matt Houlihan said he and his brother and sister loved it celebrating their ancestors someone they always think of as a “servant leader.”

“He always just wants to help everyone around him,” she said, adding that every year during the holidays, his father would appreciate his colleagues by bringing plates of food to school security guards working the night shift.

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She has always looked up to the way both of her parents cared for others. And he saw the response from those who said goodbye to his father on his last day at school expressed their gratitude for all he had done, with some even getting emotional saying how much he had affected them.

“He would always send us off (to school) saying, ‘Have fun attacking the castle.'”

– Matt Houlihan

Matt Houlihan appreciates these special cars with his dad now, especially now that he’s a parent two little girls.

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“Being a parent and taking your kids to school or taking them to sports, you know, there’s always a lot of (moments) that come out of those conversations when you’re driving, because as a kid sometimes you take that for granted. Because you could be spending that time with your parents.”

Tim Houlihan has retired with his children by his side, as he did in his younger days. (Matt Houlihan)

While Tim Houlihan no longer uses the “Princess Bride” quote with his kids, his youngest son Matt is passing on the tradition to his younger daughters.

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“I always tell them to have fun storming the castle,’ and then I put them in school to (carry on the tradition),” Matt Houlihan said.