Texas Equine Veterinary Association

www.texasequineva.com • Page 19 There are just some things that make a difference, things you will never forget. Maybe they are things that when they occur, a person doesn't realize how amazing they are. This moment was one of those. I was about three-quarters of the way through my first year of vet school. It had been hard. My dad had died the previous year, and all the money my mother had for the rest of her life was a measly life insurance policy. I had worked hard to have enough money to make it through that first year of vet school. I knew I couldn't get much financial help because that life insurance policy made it look like my mother had made a huge amount of money in one year, and it made me unqualified for grants or loans. I was broke. And I mean broke. I was eating oatmeal and riding a frickin' moped to school. I had saved enough money working through high school and undergraduate school that I thought I could make that first year, but I was running out of money in March, and my stress level was high. It was a Monday night and my papaw called me. This was a big event for everyone because he hated talking on the phone. We small-talked for a few minutes, and then he suddenly asked me how much money I needed. What? How could this old man know that I was in a money crunch? I had not told a soul of my moped riding and oatmeal eating. I told him that things were pretty tough. I told him that I wasn't gonna ask my momma for money because she needed what she had for the rest of her life. What he said next just hit me in the heart. I was so tired. I had been studying hard for days and trying to deal with being totally without money. I was wondering if this would ever pay off and how I was gonna make three more years of it. He told me not to worry. He said he would have BO BROCK, DVM, DABVP From "Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere" written by TEVA Founding Member and Current Vice President, Bo Brock, DVM, DABVP. Available for purchase on Amazon. GETTING HERE some money to me by Friday and that I should eat some beef or something that was not just oatmeal. He laughed about the moped and told me to get my truck fixed with the money he was sending. He had a way. His way was calming and secure. On Friday, the check arrived. I figured I needed about $1,000 to make it through, and then I could get a job for the summer. I opened the envelope. In it was a check for $10,000. Ten thousand dollars. It was the largest single check I had ever seen, and it was made out to me. I had worked with this man all of my life. He had paid me like a hired hand, and I had always had everything I needed. I never asked for money, and he never offered it. I had worked my way through college and bought my truck and horses. I was holding a check in my hand that said more than money. It said more than grandson. It said, "Bo, I believe in you. You are gonna make it, and I am proud of you. "I finished that semester with a 4.O grade point average. I sent him my report card and told him he was my hero. I will never forget the load that left my shoulders when that check from an old cowboy from West Texas lifted my spirits. That moment gave me a strength that I will never forget. It was an amazing moment. My mamaw told me later that he put my report card from vet school in his ranch truck. She said he showed it to everyone in the county anytime he had the chance. She said she had never seen Elmo Brown brag about anything in her life, but he bragged about his grandson every day. Wow! That was worth more than $10,000 to me.

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