Consignment stores are a booming business right now, and it's all thanks to "the Kondo Effect."

A new Netflix show starring organization expert, Marie Kondo is inspiring people to de-clutter, and thrift stores in Connecticut are seeing the results first-hand.

“I know her message is, if it doesn’t give you joy than you don’t keep it,” said thrift store shopper, Melissa Garrett.

First an author and now a Netflix star, Kondo helps people tidy up and get rid of things.

“They call us, we take it in and we sell it on consignment,” said Arlene Carr of Revival Home in West Hartford. “Since that show we are seeing more people going down into their basements and wanting to clean out.”

It’s the same with clothing. At Just Like New in Glastonbury, there’s been a spike in inventory.

“We’re getting a lot of home décor, a lot of clothing,” said salesperson Bridget Mossien. “They’ve been trying to clean out their house. I think they feel a little bogged down with everything that’s around them. I think they’re trying to make things a little less complicated and nice and neat.”

The Konmari Method is leaving drawers looking neater, and thrift stores are cashing in. 

“Young and old, people are coming in. We had guy come in with three truckloads,” said Patricia Kirol, a volunteer at The Friends of East Hartford Senior Center.

The Senate passed a spending bill to fund the government through September Thursday 83-16. President Trump indicated that he would sign the bill and also declare a national emergency at the southern border at the same time in order to get his proposed wall built.

It’s been exactly one year since Anthony Borges stepped foot inside a classroom. The Venezuelan teen credited with saving the lives of 20 students during the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas hasn’t returned to the high school since the shooting. The memories are still too traumatic.

"There was blood everywhere, bodies, friends lying on the floor," Borges recalled in an exclusive interview with Telemundo 31 in Orlando.

Borges remembered seeing the gunman shooting, and wounded, threw himself in front of a classroom door in an attempt to shield other students from flying bullets.

"When he shot me, here on my left leg, I fell. But then I got up little by little, kept crawling and he kept shooting at me while I was closing the door," Borges said.

He was shot five time while barricading the door with his body. Borges said a teacher who tried to help him was shot in the head and died at his side. He remembers that it took police almost an hour to enter the school.

"The police didn’t do anything. They stayed outside while the guy was causing harm, and had to do their job," he said.

The young man, then a freshman, survived the bullets but sustained grievous injuries that left him in the hospital for several months. He was the last survivor to be released from the hospital. The school shooting in Parkland left 17 people dead.

"I want to thank everyone for their support and God too, because it was God who helped me," Borges, now 16 years old, said.

Borges has endured 13 surgeries that have left his body heavily scarred. And while his journey over the past year has been one of recovering from the physical pain, Borges said he carries his deepest wounds in his memories.

It has also been a difficult year for Borges’ parents, who did not work for 11 months in order to take care of their injured son.

News of the shooting surprised Roger Borges, Anthony’s father, who left Venezuela with his family four years ago to escape the crisis in their country, looking for a safer life and better future for his son.

Roger Borges has been critical of the Broward County Public School District’s program called "Promises," which allows students like Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz to enroll in the program in order to avoid arrest.

"These programs are meant to hide problematic children or children with mental problems, to hide what they did and not report them to the police or federal government," said Roger Borges.

The Borges’ decided not to send their children back to school when classes began last fall. Both Anthony and his younger brother take online courses. They are also suing the Broward County school system, the principal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the school resource officer and the Broward Sheriff's Office, citing a litany of failures identified in a report by the state commission investigating the shooting, according to the lawsuit.

Anthony, meanwhile, is walking again. He has since returned to the soccer field to continue working to fulfill his life dreams of becoming a professional soccer player.

"I have faith and I have the dream of being a professional player and I know I can achieve it one day," he said with hope.

While the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced it may end its subsidized housing contract with Barbour Gardens in Hartford because of decrepit conditions there, it is far from the only HUD related property in Connecticut on its radar screen.

Other complexes in Hartford, New Haven, Southington, Stamford, Waterbury, Willimantic, New Britain, East Haven, and Ridgefield all failed their most recent HUD inspections.

Most were inspected last year. See the list of HUD-subsidized properties and their most recent inspection scores below.

The agency does not always move tenants out, like it is considering in Hartford.

A spokeswoman tells us it depends how responsive owners are to correcting the problems HUD finds.

HUD says it wants to overhaul the way it inspects these properties because most of the time they only learn about problems if tenants reach out to the agency.

To some, there is no better way to express love on Valentine’s Day than getting married. It’s become a tradition for Justice of the Peace and Non-Denominational Minister Marie Tyler Wiley to unite couples out of the goodness of her heart on the holiday.

“That’s my day to give back. That’s my thanks to God for my great life,” Tyler Wiley said, adding she struggled to accept money from couples on Valentine’s Day.

She said she’s been marrying people on Valentine’s Day for about 20 years, more than half of that time at the Meeting House Chapel in Olde Mistick Village for free. The meeting house is donated.

Her photographer and greeter also donated their time. Tyler Wiley had previously married both of them.

Couples did need to present an official wedding license from the Town of Stonington.

“At least when they get married, they’ll do so with a full heart from me because I’m in love with love,” Tyler Wiley said. She eloped with her husband and wanted to give other couples a ceremony that was more special than the one she had.

Rhode Island couple Rionda Geraldes and Michael Marinelli were among the newlyweds who married on Thursday, promising to love each other forever.

“We’re eloping,” Marinelli laughed.

The pair said they ditched the stress of planning a summer wedding.

Marinelli was dressed in a suit, Geraldes in a wedding dress. Both had red detailing - from Marinelli’s vest to Geraldes’ shoes and the bow around her waist.

“We already has some things in place. We just changed the color scheme for the holiday,” Geraldes said.

They had the ability to choose their service and with the blessing of Tyler Wiley, said I do.

“When you see that ring on somebody else’s finger,” Tyler Wiley said to the couple, “it clearly says to the rest of the world that you are loved and cherished. And indeed you are.”

“This is beyond what words could express,” Marinelli said of the day, adding that he felt the presence and love of his mom and godfather in the room. Both passed away.

After 15 and a half years married, Heidi and Timothy Mulligan are still in love with one another.

They couple renewed their vows with the help of Tyler Wiley Thursday.

“Since we’ve gotten married we’ve had a lot of rollercoasters. So I got sick about seven years ago and it put a real scare into our relationship as well as myself. And we came out of it. And I think it makes you appreciate everything so much more,” Heidi Mulligan said.

While the couple didn’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day before, they’re now going to make it a tradition.

And for the first time, Tyler Wiley officiated the wedding of Olde Mistick Village business owners in Olde Mistick Village on Valentine’s Day.

“We got engaged actually about six years ago and last week during Jeopardy I said, ‘How do you feel about getting married on Valentine’s Day,’” said Clifford Smith.

“And I answered with a question: ‘Really? When,’” Diana Smith said with a laugh.

The couple owns Smith’s Boutique that neighbors the meeting house chapel. They didn’t know they were the first couple from an area business to be wed during the event.

“Why doesn’t everybody do this? It’s marvelous,” Diana Smith said.

Their family filled the chapel. The Smiths dated in high school and found each other again.

Thursday night, they already have a fitting plan.

“Have dinner and watch Jeopardy,” Clifford Smith said.

After more than four decades in business on the shoreline, the family-owned Lynn’s Restaurant and Delicatessen is closing for good at the end of the month.

“When you get up in the morning you put your feet on the floor you need to enjoy what you’re doing and we did,” Lynn’s co-owner Helen Borrelli told NBC Connecticut. “We enjoyed every minute of it.”

Borrelli and her sister Lynn DeMusis-Grady, whom the restaurant is named after, told NBC Connecticut they are going out on a high note.

“All the recipes our my mother’s recipes and then of course we’ve done our own recipes over the years,” Borrelli said.

Forty-one years ago, the sisters’ father bought a dairy mart for their mother Ethel on East Main Street in Branford.

“She’s like yeah, well I think I’ll make a little sausage and peppers, you know a little eggplant she did that was it,” Borrelli said.

“And that’s where our story began,” DeMusis-Grady said, finishing her sister’s sentence.

Lynn’s Dairy Mart morphed into a restaurant and deli serving breakfast and lunch. The sisters said the chicken cutlet is the must try item on the menu.

Sixteen years ago, the sisters bought the family business from their now 85-year-old mom.

“We moved from 800-square feet down the street to 2,500 square feet here and expanded our catering and kind of took the business to another level,” DeMusis-Grady said.

Since the move, Jay Kirby has become a regular, coming in five days a week.

“All of the longtime customers get plaques,” he said sitting in front of his. “There’s bud and myself.”

But soon, Lynn’s longtime loyal customers will have to go elsewhere.

“I’m devastated I’m not sure what I’m gonna do at all,” Kirby said, “we’re going to Florida for three weeks to figure it out.”

Borrelli said she has been less involved in the past year and DeMusis-Grady said she’d like to sell real estate full time.

“She’s my right arm,” DeMusis-Grady said, “so it’s been hard to run the show without her so you know the show must go on but there just comes a time when you know its time.”

Time for a change, but also time to cherish many memories and say thanks.

“Our customers are our family,” DeMusis-Grady said. “Thank you to Branford and the shoreline cause we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them, we love our customers, I’m gonna miss our customers.”

Lynn’s will close on February 28 and the sisters said they plan to party that final week with their customers.

Connecticut lawmakers, mainly Democrats for now, want to sharply reduce the number of flavors available for purchase for e-cigarettes and vaping.

Dozens of Democratic senators and representatives signed on to a measure that would cut down on the number of flavors allowed to be sold in the state.

“Those flavors are what’s drawing kids to nicotine in the first place,” said Rep. Liz Linehan (D – Cheshire), one of the sponsors of the bill.

The industry group that represents vaping manufacturers argues that those flavors are exactly what keeps adults from smoking more harmful tobacco products like cigarettes.

In testimony provided to the Children’s Committee in the Connecticut General Assembly, the American Vaping Association’s President, Greg Conley wrote, “We share the goal of decreasing youth vaping and want to be a part of the solution, but punishing adults is not the answer.”

Juul, one of the industry’s leading companies which has a more than 30 percent backing from tobacco giant Altria, shared similar sentiments.

A spokesman for Juul Labs told NBC Connecticut that Juul is one of the companies that can help prevent more than 4,900 deaths per year linked to combustible cigarettes. The spokesman added, “We launched JUULpod flavors as effective tools to help adult smokers switch from cigarettes and do not and will not sell flavors which are clearly targeted to youth.”

Democrats feel emboldened with their new wider majorities in the House and Senate, that they have the support to approve wide-ranging regulations and restrictions on the vaping industry.

They say they need to regulate e-cigarettes in a strong way now, before they become more widespread, or even more popular, than cigarettes. The issue of allowing adults to quit smoking is part of that effort, but the broader goal is to limit the use of the products by young people.

“By reducing or eliminating those flavors, we are still allowing the opportunity for adults to wean themselves off combustible tobacco products while vaping but still eliminating the source that is drawing the children in the first place,” Rep. Linehan said.

Paid family medical leave is one of the big goals for Governor Ned Lamont, but the big question has always been how to pay for it.

The latest proposal would give up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave compensation. But concerns include how it would be paid and what economic impact it will cause.

Lamont is looking to have .5 percent of everyone’s paycheck go toward a Family and Medical Leave Trust Fund. 

The proposal includes

“Your job is what you do, your family is who you are,” said Stephania Johnson.

Advocates of paid family and medical leave hope this is their year.

Johnson is a mother of two and said she found herself choosing between her job and her family.

“There were days I had to go with no food on the table and no paycheck because I had to care for my son,” Johnson said.

Republicans said they’re not against the idea but that there needs to be an economic analysis of how it would impact the state.

“There's a lot of stuff in the air and question marks about the economics of it,” said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association says there are a lot of concerns about the proposal, that smaller businesses simply can’t afford to leave a position vacant for several weeks. But advocates say it’s time Connecticut joined other states in creating a program that helps workers not to have to choose between family and work.

“We urge committee members today to recognize this issue is a matter for life and death for many workers and their families,” said Lindsay Farrell of the Connecticut Working Families.

With every click of the computer mouse, you share detailed data about who you are and that digital information can be very valuable. Much of what you do online is not done in private, even if you think it is.

Technology experts have highlighted the important distinction between you privacy and your data. Privacy relates to things like your name, your social security number, your online user names and passwords. But your data is more like a "profile" of who you are; an abstract model of you. That data is in high demand.

"It's valuable so they can target us for advertisements," said Frederick Scholl, the Cybersecurity Program director at Quinnipiac University's School of Engineering. Scholl said your data - that detailed portrait of what you click, what you buy, what you search for online, even what you watch on your smart TV - is being collected to then be used by companies to advertise to a specific group of potential customers - who are a lot like you.

"It's worth a lot because it helps with targeted marketing," said Scholl. Your data combined with that of everyone else has monetary value, he adds.

In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission found that data collection companies were collecting and storing "a vast amount of data on almost every U.S. household and commercial transaction." That collection continues today, and experts warn that it can often be done without the consumers' knowledge or our consent.

"Our information isn't just out there, it's being traded actively," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Tong, a Democrat, said his office is coordinating with the offices of other state attorneys general to try to require tech companies, including Facebook, to fully disclose to consumers what information is collected and who has access to it.

"Connecticut is closely working with our partners in other states to make sure that we bring those protections here," Tong said.

"We want them to do everything they can to protect the integrity and the confidentiality of our personal data, and we expect them to and we're going to hold them accountable," said Tong. Tong said he had also been in contact with Facebook in recent days.

"We don't sell your data and we don't tell advertisers who you are," said Facebook in a statement to NBC Connecticut Investigates. The company also said it is working to prevent misuse of its ad platforms. Facebook also said it had tripled the number of employees working on safety and security.

"That's the tradeoff - is that you kind of become a product in an of yourself," said Lon Seidman, a technology expert and tech product reviewer on YouTube. Seidman said any company that collects consumer data needs to protect it from a breach or hack or even if a company changes hands.

"This data is bought and sold as a commodity and there's very little control over how it is held and protected and moved around," said Seidman.

Experts recommend conducting a review every few months of every website you visit or app you use, making sure the username and password combination used is different for each site. If someone is able to obtain that combination, it is possible they would have enough information to then begin peeling away the layers of your privacy.

Also, it is recommended that consumers take advantage of the Privacy Checkup that Facebook and other companies offer to figure out what information you have granted access to and which apps you have authorized.

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would designate Election Day a state holiday and there is a public hearing on it today. 

The Government Administration and Elections Committee will hold a public hearing today on several bills, including the one that would make the Tuesday after the first Monday in November a holiday to remove barriers to voting.  

Lawmakers are also considering extending same-day registration to 8 p.m. 

The hearing begins at 11 a.m. in Room 2A of the Legislative Office Building.

See the full agenda here.

A few areas of freezing drizzle has prompted a Winter Weather Advisory for Hartford County until noon.

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Cold air is currently locked into the valley locations of Hartford and Litchfield counties.

This could result in a few slick spots through 10 a.m.

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Temperatures will gradually rise into the upper 40s and low 50s by this afternoon.

Scattered showers are expected through the afternoon.

Stay with the NBC Connecticut First Alert Weather Team for updates.

Police searched a home on House Street in Glastonbury Friday morning during an investigation into prostitution and made two arrests.

Police have charged 31-year-old Danielle Wilson with criminal attempt to commit prostitution and they have charged 46-year-old Eric Drake with promoting prostitution in the second degree.

While searching the house, police also found body armor in the house and charged Drake with criminal possession of body armor, according to a news release from police.

Interstate 84 West was closed in Waterbury but has reopened. 

The highway was closed near exit 18, according to state police. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Police are set to address the media around 5:30 p.m. Watch it live above. 

At least five people are dead and the alleged gunman has been killed following an active shooter situation at an industrial complex in Aurora, officials say. 

Aurora police have confirmed that five police officers were also shot as they tried to get to the shooter inside the building. All five have been transported to local hospitals, and a sixth officer suffered a knee injury. 

Officers were unable to confirm whether the shooter was among the dead, according to reports, and will provide an update at a press conference on Friday night. 

Police have not established a motive in the shooting, but believe that the shooter, identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin, was a former employee of the business. 

Aurora police have not yet identified the victims, but families can go to Aurora University's public safety building for unification. 

The city's Twitter account posted at 3 p.m. "the shooter has been apprehended." Police said the scene was secured and the "shooter is no longer a threat to the area."

At least one person was confirmed dead in the shooting, according to Chris Nelson, a spokesperson for Kane County Coroner Rob Russell's office. Further information on the fatality was not immediately known. 

At least two patients from the area were taken to Presence Mercy Medical Center, but their conditions remained unknown, the hospital said. According to Olga Solares with Amita Health and Presence Mercy Medical Center, the hospital was placed on its highest alert to respond to the shooting. 

Rush Copley Medical Center also said it has received three patients who are being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital also reported receiving one patient each. Conditions were not immediately known, according to Advocate Aurora Health. 

The mayor's office confirmed four officers were injured but were in stable condition. Spokesperson Clayton Mohammad also reported civilian injuries but would not say how many. The office declined to comment on the condition of the suspect. 

Around 2 p.m., Aurora police said command staff were responding to 641 Archer Ave. for "an active shooter incident." Residents were urged to avoid the area as the city sent out an alert of "an active shooter near Highland and Archer." 

Illinois State Police District 5 said it was sending troopers to the scene. The ATF and FBI Chicago also said they were responding. 

Police said they were responding to the Henry Pratt Company, a valve manufacturing plant located at 401 S. Highland Ave. near Prairie and Archer. Police, SWAT and ambulance vehicles were seen swarming the area. 

An employee at Henry Pratt who wished to remain anonymous told NBC 5 he and his coworkers heard "many, many gunshots" before running into an old, unused men's bathroom in the building to hide. 

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the president has been briefed and "is monitoring the ongoing situation in Aurora." 

Gov. JB Pritzker also said he was "monitoring the shooting" and encouraged all residents to "follow the directives of their local law enforcement." 

Holy Angels Catholic School said it was on lockdown amid the report. 

West Aurora School District 129 said all students were being held in place "for their safety" after "reports of an active shooter at the Henry Pratt building." All 18 schools in the district were on lockdown, according to Board President Bob Gonzalez. 

"Per directions from the county sheriff, the District has been advised to go into soft lockdown situation across the district. Teaching will continue with reduced movement. Normal operations will resume when the soft lockdown has been lifted. No one will be allowed to leave or enter our buildings until the lockdown has been lifted," the district wrote on Facebook. 

“They’ve had drills, and they’re used to it, but you can never get used to the real thing," a mom of a student told NBC 5. "I just want to go pick them up and give them a hug. It’s really hard. I can’t concentrate right now."

By 3:30 p.m., the district said will begin dismissing schools in 40-minute intervals. For a schedule of dismissals click here. 

Aurora university said all classes were canceled for the remainder of the day Friday on the school's main campus following the incident. 

Diana Muniz, an employee at Taqueria Muniz, said a customer reported hearing numerous shots in the area. 

“The customer said they heard one shot fired, then more shots like ‘boom, boom, boom,'" she told NBC 5. 

Check back for more on this developing story. 

A federal judge issued a gag order in the Roger Stone case Friday, saying attorneys and witnesses for the former Trump campaign adviser and prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller may not speak publicly about Stone's prosecution for lying, witness tampering and obstruction.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson also put an end to Stone's courthouse press conferences, NBC News reported. 

An East Haven Board of Education member is facing federal charges, accused in a scheme involving the theft of over $1.5 million from an Illinois company.

In federal court Friday, John Finkle pleaded not guilty to a series of charges alleging he defrauded an Illinois-based supplier of electronic parts out of more than $1.5 million.

Some in East Haven think given the circumstances, it’s time for him to resign.

Finkle is charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and wire fraud.

“Resigning It would look better for everybody if he did,” said resident Allan Csuka.

An investigation by the U.S. Attorney and the FBI claims Finkle, while employed by that company, worked with two men in New York and Wisconsin to defraud the unnamed company through improper and undervalued purchases. The government says Finkle ultimately profited some $500,000 through the scheme which ran from early 2015 until last December.

There was no answer at Finkle’s East Haven home when NBC Connecticut tried to reach him for comment.

In town, residents were startled by the allegations.

“It certainly doesn’t send a good message to the children or to the adults either. You don’t know who to trust anymore,” Csuka said.

Finkle’s position on the Board of Education is elected, and he cannot be removed over the allegations, according to the board’s chair, who said the matter is “completely unrelated to the East Haven Public School District and Mr. Finkle’s role as a board member.”

Finkle was released on a $500,000 bond. Should he resign, it would be up to the mayor to appoint another person to his seat to serve the duration of his two-year term, which runs through the end of the year.

The mayor learned about the allegations through NBC Connecticut’s phone call to him this afternoon and says he’s consulting with the town attorney about the next steps.

Pigs, chickens, goats and alpacas made it out of a barn fire in New Milford Friday morning, but four roosters did not, according to the fire marshal.

Firefighters were called just after 9 a.m. to respond to 119 Town Farm Road, a barn that Connecticut Audubon Society owns.

The surviving animals were taken to other nearby locations, officials said. The barn is salvageable.

State police have arrested a man and a woman in connection with the shooting and stabbing of a man during a drug theft at Briarwood Apartments in Windham on Oct. 16.

State troopers found the 33-year-old victim in the stairwell of the apartments on Bricktop Road when they responded to reports of an altercation that evening.

The victim told investigators that 20-year-old Alexander Santana, of Montville, contacted him and asked to come over and buy $40 worth of cocaine. After using cocaine, Santana started sending messages on his phone, the victim told police.

At one point, the victim got up to go to the kitchen and found Santana with another person when he returned to the living room. Both people had guns and demanded drugs and money, the arrest warrant application says.

Santana grabbed the victim’s backpack, which held cocaine and cash, and shot the victim in the chest and the other person stabbed him in the abdomen, according to an arrest warrant application.

The victim was initially transported to Windham Hospital, then flown to Hartford Hospital. 

State police have now identified 18-year-old Corianna Jenkins, of Plymouth, as one of the suspects.

Plymouth police who were investigating an unrelated incident located her, learned that there was a warrant for her, took her into custody and turned her over to state police.

Jenkins has been charged with illegal possession of a narcotic, larceny in the sixth degree, robbery in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence, breach of peace in the second degree, attempted murder, assault in the first degree and second-degree threatening. Her bond was set at $1 million.

Santana has been charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, larceny in the sixth degree, robbery in the first degree, breach of peace in the second degree, criminal use of a weapon, attempted murder, assault in the first degree and threatening in the second degree.

Bond was set at $250,000.

Four years ago, the future of New Haven’s Ralph Walker Ice Skating Rink was uncertain.

This weekend it will reopen after months of renovations.

Skate rentals will be available during open skates for the public and private groups like local hockey teams will also able to rent ice time.

“When we thought nobody cared about this facility, that if we closed it no one would raise objection and we learned the hard way that people love this facility, they are willing for us to pay for it,” New Haven Mayor Toni Harp (D) said Friday.

The city conducted an economic feasibility study.

“The study itself captured some of the things that were important to make the rink a destination and a feasible enterprise,” said Rebecca Bombero, director of New Haven’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn said the city spent $3 million in taxpayer money on phase one of the renovations and $400,000 remediation before the work began.

“We’re most proud of how it looks and bringing the outdoors in and quality of the product,” Zinn said.

With a view of East Rock, the rink has been expanded. Next season, it will become the home ice for the Albertus Magnus Division 3 hockey team.

“Now having a regulation-size ice sheet we’ll be paving the parking lot have team facilities and showers all enable the rental market to increase for this facility,” Zinn said.

Zinn said they took safety into account when selecting the new glass dasher boards.

“Especially in youth sports injuries such a concern,” he said, “so we really invested in the type of boards that minimize impact young players especially feel.”

City officials are holding a grand re-opening ceremony Saturday at 1:30 p.m. followed by a police versus fire hockey scrimmage. The first public skate is expected to start around 4 p.m.

In mid-March, the rink will close again for a second phase of renovations that includes new locker rooms.

Click here for more information here on public skating schedules.

It was an emotional surprise for a World War II veteran.

On Friday John Faenza received the Knight of Legion of Honor Medal, the highest honor of French military decoration, and it brought him to tears.

“It’s a big surprise especially to have my family with me today,” Faenza said.

Faenza is a resident at Hartford Healthcare’s Cedar Mountain Assisted Living Facility in Newington. Through a lengthy process, veteran’s liaison coordinator Wayne Rioux was able to apply and arrange for Faenza to receive the medal.

“John was a sergeant in the Army Air Corps which was the U.S. Army at that time,” Rioux said. “He was assigned to a bomber wing and their mission was to conduct bombing missions throughout France, Germany, and they did so a lot of times in the dark with just maps they had available.”

Medals are only presented to living veterans.

“For us it’s really important to honor the greatest generation and U.S. veterans who fought for our democracy and values on our soil,” said Anne-Claire Legendre, Consul General of France in New York.

“I appreciate everybody that came here to see this occasion,” Faenza said.