Life is a blessing every day, right?  Or every day is a blessing.  It’s winter, kind of cold here in El Paso.  Enjoying watching the winter Olympics on TV. Working well at my day job.  And pleased to know that each of my daughters is working hard at school.  Carly is completing her master’s degree at Emerson College in Boston.  And Lara is working on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona in Tucson.  In the wake of losing Keith, I sometimes wonder if we’ll be okay financially.  Thankfully working as a physical therapist provides a good living.  But trying to launch Lara’s career as a professional swimmer can be challenging with this economy.  Travel expenses to out of town meets can get expensive as well as just paying the rent and eating.  So it was nice that Lara got some notifications from USA Swimming that there are grants and moneys available to help with training expenses.  We wanted to take advantage of any moneys that Lara was eligible for.
The first grant application was due in November 2009.  Lara received notification on February 6th that she was selected to receive the William E. Simon grant this year.  Very nice news, to say the least.  When Lara received this notification, she had just completed an application for the 2010 Athlete Investment Plan.  And Lara received notification on February 9th, “Dear Lara, We received thirty-five proposals for this funding from current National Team athletes and 2008 Olympians and we were extremely impressed with the thoughtfulness that went into them.  We have reviewed all of the plans we received and we are pleased to tell you we will be awarding you $____  to support the goals and objectives discussed in your plan.  Specifically, this funding can address horse care and horseback riding.”   Wow, Lara!  You are awarded moneys from USA Swimming to assist paying for your training in preparation for the 2012 Olympics and somehow you get your horse funded!   Only you can pull this off.  And you know what?  You and Calypso deserve this because I know that she has a huge impact on your success in swimming.  Way to go, Calypso!

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