I always wondered how my Mother came to the United States. I decided to speak to my Grandfather to get familiar with my family’s history. I asked my mother to take me to my grandfather’s house to acknowledge how they got here.  There I started focusing on what my grandfather visualized as the American Dream.

My grandfather was born on February 13, 1954, in Torreon, Coahuila.  Coahuila is a fairly large state in Mexico. He came to this Country because where he grew up, was such a cruel, dreadful place, he knew that if he continued to live there he wouldn't be able to support his family and give an excellent education to their daughters.  Therefore he and my grandmother decided to come to America. He came to this country to look for a better life and to pursue his American dream. He literally came into the U.S. sprinting,  he had to mask himself as if he was a u.s. pedestrian from the border patrol officials in a restaurant, so he can survive and try  to pursue his dream. When he first got here he came only with my mother, my grandmother and his other two daughters came several months later.  They had to adjust for a couple of months, according to him it was difficult, he longed for his wife and his other daughters. Now to talk about some events that happened in his life while trying to accomplish his dreams. My grandfathers name is Pedro Guerrero he has lived in the United States for  28 years, he came to this country in the spring of 1986. The earthquake of 1994  didn't really affect my grandfather and his family in any way financially  wise or property wise, at this time they didn't own their home. They were living in a apartment-complex at the time and their apartment was not affected.  The only affected party was my mother, she was a student at John F. Kennedy High School, at that time and as I have learned the school suffered major destruction. Major rebuilding took place in that school the years that followed.  During that time the technology was not as advanced as it is now, my grandpa didn’t worry about the internet shutting down. My grandfather is an old fashion kind a guy, who still enjoys purchasing the newspaper, therefore the earthquake didn't affect him in that aspect either.  His job, well there wasn't  much to do, as he worked at an Auto Recycling Establishment, yet he didn't get laid off,  his manager kept giving him work, just enough to maintain himself and enough to provide for his family. My grandfather is 60 years old, in his mindset he hasn't fully accomplished his  “American Dream”  however he is still trying to fulfill what he desires, like “ buying a new car”.  His most memorable moment was when he became an official Naturalized American Citizen, he truly felt honored and exultation  to be called an American. His view and perspective of the American dream is supporting his family, living in a nice house, and not having to worry about anything.