A viral photo of 28 year-old Kevin Ivey and his six year-old son Calvin in the stand at a Texas A&M football game earlier this month has a heartwarming backstory. It’s not just because the adorable Calvin is snuggled and fast asleep in his dad’s arms (oblivious to the ruckus) or even that Ivey isn’t your typical college student (he served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps).
It’s because Ivey sees the men with him in the photo as family. When Ivey was honourably discharged from the Corps earlier this year, it was just him, young Calvin, and his dual cab pick-up truck. When he enrolled at Texas A&M with his schooling paid for by the GI Bill, Ivey was still a Marine on a limited budget without the cash to pay the deposit required to move into an apartment, and the father and son duo were living on a shoestring:
"We had money for our bare necessities and that's it," Ivey said. "Hotel money just wasn't in the budget."
And so it came that by July, Ivey and Calvin found themselves sleeping in their truck in a parking lot on campus. Ivey, whose time in the military included tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, didn’t find it that bad.
Anyone who's been away to school, or had a young child - or tried to manage both at once! - can imagine how difficult all these changes were for this veteran and his young son. But Ivey isn't a complainer and like so many parents, he just saw what needed to be done and did it. But even those who just plow through deserve support in difficult times. Ivey says:
"I guess I've shared a truck in Iraq and Afghanistan with three or four other guys, so, I guess for me, it really wasn't that bad. (Calvin) had the whole backseat and I had the front seat. So I can't complain," recalled Ivey.
But when three university police officers knocked on his truck window one night, Ivey’s life took a surprising turn. The officers were military veterans themselves, and sympathetic to the young dad's plight.
One officer wrote anonymously on Facebook:
"We decided to all chip in some money to get Kevin and son a hotel for the night. We offered the hotel to Kevin and he quickly said he did not want charity or a handout. We told him it was neither of those. It was fellow veterans taking care of another veteran in need. As a veteran family, we have given so much for our country. If we can't at least take care of each other, how can we expect others to help us? I specifically told Kevin that he was now joining another large family, the Aggie Family. I'll be damned if I let another veteran Aggie go in need without me trying to do whatever I can to help them."
The next day, Ivey and his son found an apartment and he credits the support of the Texas A&M community for his “soft landing.” Often veterans have trouble settling back into their family lives when they return from a military tour, and like so many others, Ivey’s relationship suffered - and ultimately ended - when he left the Marines, leaving him a single dad without a support system of family.
"I was coming here alone and unafraid and just thinking I was going to meander through school and just be another face in the crowd. I mean, I am just another face in the crowd—I'm nobody here. But I have my brothers," Ivey says of Corps of Cadets. "And we're carrying each other through."
Image Source: khouHouston
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