Arriving with time to spare, we had a chance to leisurely
visit with Brian's parents, Mercedes and Allen. Although
I've known them for many years, we've never had the
luxury to sit and chat, uninterrupted, for a whole
hour. What I learned was fascinating and further
elevated my admiration for them, not only as parents, but
as people. What
beautiful parents and dear human beings they are! Brian
and his sister, Leslie, a student at University of
Southern California (USC), could not ask for better, more
caring and hardworking parents. Mercedes and Allen support their children's aspirations and dreams, yet love
them enough not to spoil them rotten. With
her gorgeous blue eyes and his kind hazel-green eyes, his
parents look as all-American as Brian. I vaguely
recollected that they were not native Californians.
In chatting, I learned about the richness of Brian's
ethnic and cultural heritages. Yes,
heritages. Plural.
Brian is Nisei
(second generation). And he is hapa (mixed
ethnicities) to boot! Like many of his club peers,
Brian has recent immigrant roots:
Brian's mom was born and
raised in Cuba
. When she was 10, she and her family moved to
California to join her uncle and his family in search of
freedom away from Fidel Castro's communistic
regime. Today, March 3, was her
grandmother's (Brian's great-grandmother's) 93rd
birthday. Her grandmother's father was an
American from Georgia who fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American
War. So on his mom's side, Brian is Spanish, Cuban,
and American. Brian's
dad was born to a Puerto Rican mother and an Italian
father from Italy on the East Coast. His family
first moved to Puerto Rico, his mother's homeland,
before moving to California. On his dad's side, Brian is
Puerto Rican and Italian.
His parents met in high
school in Bell, California. Yes, they were high
school sweethearts. Awwww.....! Both are
fluent in Spanish, their
first language, yet their English bears no trace of
accents. Brian gets his acumen and good ear for
languages from his parents, who are true bilinguals. They
came to America to attain The
American Dream. They were denied the educational
opportunities that they can now generously gift their
children. I learned that thanks to his work's educational program,
Brian's dad graduated from Pepperdine University, and now
works in management.
Brian's mom works for the school district. By dint
of dedicated hard work, honesty, persistence, sacrifice
and discipline, within the span of one generation, they
have achieved The American Dream for themselves and their
children. As
Brian's folks will attest: The American Dream is not all
about achieving material riches, but achieving a high quality of
life. Today, they must be feeling very
gratified. By allowing themselves fewer luxuries,
their children have choices, options and privileges denied
them. They have the luxury to follow their hearts and
pursue their passions. Compared
to their parents, Brian and his sister are children of
privilege. Privilege, hard-earned by their parents
and grandparents. Yet, because of their parents'
solid values and involved parenting, they are not at all
spoiled. Brian
and his sister have unfailingly impressed me with their
maturity, sensitivity and concern for others. There
is an immigrant American who said it exactly right: “No man becomes rich, unless he enriches others.”
He was Andrew Carnegie of THINK
AND GET RICH fame. He built the world’s largest steel mill,
becoming the richest man in the land. Through his philanthropy,
he gave it all away and helped build our great libraries. Our
quality of life was enriched by their collective efforts,
talent, and verve. In turn, I believe Brian and his
fellow club members are far richer today than
yesterday. |
