Anthony & Clarette C | Alexandria, Virginia

When Dad wasn’t sporting a Cincinnati Bengals shirt on game day, then I’d always find him wearing Central State University, his beloved alma mater. He was the only one of his siblings to graduate from college, an achievement that he boasted of at family reunions. Thanks to his military service, he harnessed the GI bill to fund his college education. The day I enrolled at his beloved alma mater, he could not have smiled any wider. But when family health problems struck, they dried up his years of careful saving. It pained him visibly to see me drop out after my first semester. Years later, after working full-time to put myself through college, and then graduate school, I resolved to build a smoother path for my own kids. When my daughter turned two, we opened her Virginia inVEST account. When my second daughter arrived three years later, we immediately started her own inVEST account. Every day I watch with wonder as my girls grow. I watch with an equal amount of horror as the costs of college grow. I am determined to fully harness the girls’ Virginia inVEST accounts to help us tame that "tuition monster." Earlier this year, I said my final goodbye to Dad. I dream of the day that my girls step forward to receive their college diplomas. Watching his grandchildren carry on the college tradition would surely restore that wide smile to Dad’s face. Virginia inVEST has been our partner in fulfilling this dream.