October 27, 2016
Growing up, we had next door neighbors with two boys who were the same age as my brother and me. As you might imagine, there was a lot of back and forth between the two houses and our families were very close. During our middle school years, our neighbors finished their basement, installing a TV room, a game room with a pool table, and a workout room. I remember asking my parents, “When are we going to finish our basement?!” “We have no plans to do so,” replied my father. When I pressed him further, he simply said that we have different priorities. We never did renovate the basement and we didn’t always have the newest cars or the latest gadgets. We did, however, receive a gift that has paid dividends for a lifetime—an independent school education.