A Memorable Memorial Day
My weekend was significant for a couple of big reasons. Two events came together to make for a very memorable Memorial Day weekend, for me and my family.
First, was the anticipation of the arrival of our son, David, from basic training and AIT. He’s a soldier now; just like my wife, Sondra, and I were 26 years ago. David’s arrival was planned as a big surprise for, Haley, our daughter, who is a Clear Springs graduate this year. For those of you who have a son or daughter graduating, you know how hectic everything is during this time. We had a jammed up weekend of activities planned with close friends and family.
We also had to also to shoot up to Bryan/College Station to get our daughter set for college. Because of everything that was happening, Sondra and I decided to divide and conquer. This meant that Haley and I were set for a road trip. The plan was to get her into a dorm, see an advisor, look for grants, and get that student loan handled.
I’m getting a little nervous about now, “How am I going to do this?” People close to me call me “Mr. Shoot from the Hip and unorganized”. Thank God Haley didn’t inherit those traits from me because I was counting on her!
Haley planned do her first 2 years at Blinn then transfer to A & M to pursue an education degree. And as parents, we wished we could have taken care of all the financial requirements ourselves but that just wasn’t in the cards. Anyways, while standing in one of those ‘never ending’ lines I noticed a veteran’s affairs line. Being a veteran myself, I decided to check out the possibilities. Hey, any grant money I could get was just that much less she would have to pay back. Still standing in the ‘never ending’ lines our name was called so Haley and I headed for the Veterans’ Affairs line.
The Veteran’s advisor told us about the Hazelwood Act and how I could transfer my benefits to my daughter. The she proceeded to ask me a few simple questions to see if I would qualify: Did I live in Texas when I enlisted in the Army…YES. And was I Honorably discharged back to Texas…YES. Basically was I a Texas Vet…YES.
Right about now, I’m thinking…Cooool, that would be a couple thousand bucks that Haley wouldn’t have to pay back. With a vested interest, I asked the advisor exactly what does this mean for my daughter? Her response knocked us out of our chairs, she said that the Hazelwood Act would pay for Haley’s tuition up to 150 hours to any Texas public university!
Let me tell you, I shared an unbelievable and moving moment with my little girl – we were both stunned and in tears! What a way to start our Memorial Day Weekend!
Are you a Texas Veteran with a kid going to college?
The rest of the weekend just got better; first seeing my son return home as a soldier and now knowing my daughter was receiving an college education because I was a soldier. Very cool! To celebrate we spent the rest of the weekend with a lot of great friends out on the water on Clear Lake. I’m a new member of the Carefree Boat Club and one of the benefits of being a member is that we have access to a great selection of boats. I can guarantee you, that we certainly took advantage of that by trying out both the Nautic Star and the 230 Sea Ray. Everyone had a ball!
God bless America. –Eddie- |
