By Tamas Mondovics
With the holiday season in full swing, many are thinking about giving and receiving, while hoping to give or get the perfect gift in hopes of making one another happy.
It is safe to say, however, that for a number of local military families, there is hardly a better present than the gift of welcoming home a husband or wife, mom, dad, son or daughter who has been serving overseas.
But, that is just what Tiffany Riley along with her two children Noah, 6 a first grade student at FishHawk Creek Elementary, and Sydney, 4, who attends VPK at Lamb of God in Lithia, received as she welcomed her husband Lieutenant Colonel Scott Riley, home last month.
The Riley family moved to FishHawk in August 2011 and Tiffany proudly explained that Scott has been serving in the Army for more than 22 years, 10 of which were with Special Operations, including his two tours in Iraq and three in Afghanistan.
“Scott’s last tour from which he just returned on Friday, November 2, was actually helping to start up the new Special Operations Joint Task Force in Afghanistan,” Tiffany said.
Besides the joy of seeing her husband again, Tiffany and her family also enjoyed much support from the local community.
“Our family was treated with a warm welcome home for Scott by the Friends of FishHawk organization who lined our street with flags and yellow ribbon,” Tiffany said.
The Friends of FishHawk organization, under the direction of Kelly Rowjohn, lined up donations from Grimebusters that power washed the Riley’s home and Splash Car Wash, which fully detailed Scott’s car that had been garaged most of his deployment.
Rowjohn also made arrangements to provide a MealTrain of dinners for the duration of the Riley’s first week back.
For more information about Friends of FishHawk, please call Rowjohn at 655-9985.
