OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

Subscriber Services Home Delivery Gift Subscription Stop-Start Delivery Missing Paper Back Issues Newsstand Locations Shopper Locations

Advertising Services Manage Your Account Place a Classified Ad Place a Display Ad Advertise Online Business Finder Directory

Other Services Submit News Laminated Items Photos & Keepsakes Article Archives Contact Us History of the Herald Our Policies

Suggest a poll topic

2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Friday, November 28, 2008 10:35 PM

Troops, families savor holiday together

By JENALEA MYERS, Herald Staff Writer

A couple of local military families were extra thankful Thursday.

Recently, Katy Boothe and Whitney Cummings, both of Ottawa, welcomed home their husbands, Jason Boothe and Riley Cummings, from Iraq just in time for Thanksgiving.

‘Back into tradition’

Whitney Cummings didn’t have to wait too long for her husband to come home. Riley Cummings, a specialist in the U.S. Army, was gone four months before recently making his return to Ottawa.

“I knew about a month ahead of time that I’d be home for Thanksgiving,” Riley Cummings said. “You never know how long you’ll be in limbo, though, so it wasn’t a definite thing.”

The family went to Eureka to celebrate the holiday Thursday and planned on going to another gathering today.

“We went straight back into tradition with going to Eureka to celebrate with my wife’s family,” Riley Cummings said. “Holidays are a big deal on her side of the family.”

Whitney Cummings said the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Allyson, was happy about the timing of her father’s return.

“She missed her daddy a lot,” she said.

And it seemed the rest of the family felt the same way.

“The whole family was thankful that I’d be home for Thanksgiving,” Riley Cummings said.

He said he should be home for at least a year but is unsure of future deployments.

“Nothing is a definite,” Whitney Cummings said. “Nobody really is sure with the election.”

‘Home for good’

Jason Boothe’s return to Ottawa before the Thanksgiving holiday worked out well for the Boothe family.

“It’s very good timing,” Katy Boothe said. “The kids couldn’t be happier.”

She said the Thanksgiving gatherings were kept simple this year, with a gathering of friends Thursday and a meal Friday with her parents.

“We’re just happy to be together,” she said.

Jason Boothe, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, left for Baghdad last year after Thanksgiving.

“Technology was great,” Katy Boothe said of keeping in touch with her husband. “We’d talk at least once a week — sometimes once a day.”

After 16 years of service, she said her husband isn’t scheduled for any more deployments.

“He should be home for good,” she said.

Herald staff writer Jenalea Myers can be e-mailed at jmyers@ottawaherald.com.