Chapter 8: Bret Goes to School

One day, Bret was sitting in the living room of Bob's and Diane's house. Sitting around him were Bob, Diane, Heather, Ann, Amber, Stacy and the always present Andy. Bret mentioned that the Training Commander had called him into his office that day and asked if Bret was considering furthering his education. Major Weis said that the Marines were always interested in helping their men and women advance. He stated that although all Bret had was a GED. The base had an agreement with San Diego State University where a few deserving Marines would be conditionally enrolled. If these Marines maintained a certain grade point average, over the first semester, the school would make the enrollment permanent. Major Weis wanted Bret to be one of those Marines. The family thought this was a great idea. Diane, Ann and Heather said they would enroll also. That way they could each help each other. Stacy and Amber said that their schooling was so bad they would like to take courses toward getting their GEDs. Bob who already had two years in college said he would enroll and go for a Bachelor in Computer Science. The next day a two car caravan headed out to SDSU to begin enrollment.

Bret had no idea, what he wanted to major in so he just signed up for general studies to start. Bret had permission from the Training Commander to go to school on Wednesday's. Night classes started late enough that Bret could still coach the twins' teams. Bret had one class, (College Algebra) Wednesday morning, one class, (Biology) Wednesday afternoon, one class (Creative Writing) Monday and Wednesday evening and a class (Beginning for Business) Tuesday and Thursday evening. Bret's busy schedule had just got a lot busier! Bob and the girls decided on a more part time schedule only going in the evening. Due to the fact that Bret had never developed bad habits that wasted his time, he was able to meet the demands of his new schedule.

Two other important things happened to the family that winter. The developer, who had built the houses on the cul de sac, asked to get together with Bret. It seemed that the person who owned the twenty acres of land adjoining the backs of the houses had died. The estate was wanting to sell the land. The developer said that realistically, due to the topography, the only ones who could develop it were Bret and his family. No one else would have the needed access to the property. By extending the cul de sac with a one lane road between house C and D they could build up to four more houses on the property. There would remain, then, a thin strip of land running around the property that could be made into a green area. This would get them a nice break from the city. Bob told Bret that they should buy the land and build the houses but with a caveat. Bob and Bill Simpson, the two brothers who were on the 1st Squad the first games, had been spending a lot of time with the family in the past three years. They had mentioned several times that they wished they had a place like the cul de sac where they could buy a house to live. Bob thought Bret, the brothers, and himself, should form a corporation. They would buy the land and build the houses. For some strange reason Heather and Ann were favorably supportive of this idea. After talking with the brothers, Bret, Bob, Bill and Bob met with the developer. They signed the needed paperwork. Construction would begin almost immediately.

The second incident of importance happened after the paperwork had been signed. Bob and Bill Simpson approached Bret and asked for his permission to ask Ann and Heather to marry them. Bret was more than happy with arrangement. The weddings were scheduled for two weeks after the two houses Bob and Bill were having built would be completed. Once Ann and Heather were married, they would move into their new homes and Stacy and Molly, would move into the house with Amber and Adam. Bret made a momentous decision and decided to occupy the house that Stacy and Ann were vacating. For the first time in his life Bret would not be living in Barracks. Instead of building four new houses, "4B's Inc." decided to build one of the houses into a clubhouse. It could be eventually be remodeled into a house if needed. At that time the family, much to Bret's discomfort, decided to name their community Bret's Estates.

When summer arrived Bret was the only one who was going to be involved in the Marine Games and then only with the Networks as a commentator. The family had now grown again, and was busy landscaping and decorating the Estates. Modern Family magazine did an article regarding this small community within a city. The uniqueness of having a group of residences owned by a family, which was isolated from the problems of a city, but located to take advantage of the available opportunities of the city, was an intriguing situation. Circumstances had been right for this to happen and the chance of this happening again in another area was slim.

This summer Diane's Bob (hereafter named Bob1), Bill, Bob (hereafter named Bob2), and Bret all became involved with coaching. Martinez Veterinarian Hospital was the sponsor of the teams of which Kelly, Kim and Molly were members. Mike Miyagi's Dojo was the sponsor of the teams that David, Evan, Adam and Mark participated on. Bob1 and Bill coached The Dojo's teams and Bret and Bob2 coached The Hospital teams. A great time was had by all with the family present for all events. The Pizzas shared with the winners and losers, made for good friends.