Many peoples views on the American Dream hear the phrase and ponder fame and fortune or living on the land of the free and the home of the brave. While interviewing Pedro Hernandez, an old family friend, I realized that not all people care about just the money or something that isn’t that realistic for most people to achieve, meaning the fame and fortune. Listening to his childhood stories also made me rethink my view on the American Dream. Mr Hernandez has always dreamed of “happiness, and love.”  Smiling sincerely, he explained,  “You need these in your life; it’s what matters to me. It includes family, and friends, and everything in between that makes you happy.”

Hernandez cherished the times spent with his family. First memory, he mentioned was favorite childhood one, “Camping on the beaches of Mexico,” he giggled. “ We used to buy fireworks and shoot them off at night. The entire family would go, my mom, dad, and my brothers. It was the funniest times because we would all crack jokes and everyone would laugh,” he explained how these times with his family were not only the best times as a child. This memory lead him into telling me about the times he would visit his older brother in Texas and the amusing times they had “We would go running around all the yards without a care for what anyone said. We would play army with our BB guns, running in and out of the bushes and in between trees in front of my grandma’s old blue house,” he explained. While he told me this, seeing his face light up remembering the “good times I spent while the time lasted.” This lead him to talk about how kids have changed from when he was younger back when the majority of the kids used to finish homework and run out to play on the block, “Now they just sit inside in front of the TV or playing video games,” he stated and continued “back then we used to ride bikes, get scratched, shake it off and get back on.”

After letting him reminisce about the wonderful times as a child, I realized that his family memories were greatly involved with his idea on the American Dream where he mentioned that “happiness and love,” matter to him which include “family, and friends, and everything in between that makes you happy.”. I decided to talk about adulthood. His stories were mainly focused on enjoying life in the moment. One of the stories he told, “My kids being born.” Mr. Hernandez exclaimed “I thought it was going to be creepy from hearing all the stories about how the baby came out and what it looked like,” both he and I found it  comical when he told me about his experience and how nervous and afraid he was at that moment. With a wide grin on his face, he exclaimed, “But instead I was filled with joy and happiness. The first thing I wanted to do was hug them and squeeze them until they popped!” Interviewing him allowed me to realize that he likes making humorous little comments and jokes to make  people around him smile. His smile turned into a frown when I brought into thought an  event that has affected him positively or negatively. That’s when he said, “My dad dying.  It hurt me a lot and made me realize that life is short and we have to make the best of it. One minute he was here, fine, talking to me and the next he was gone.” It took me a while to process that his idea of his American Dream even if he didn’t say it, it includes living your life in the moment. “My dad and I had some pretty funny times I remember taking long drives with him and talking about the things him and my grandpa would do,” he stated and told me about  the places they would drive to and the lessons that his dad would talk about.

With the memories and experiences Mr. Hernandez spoke to me about, from the times camping, to the times with his dad, and his older brother, to his kids being born and him cherishing every single moment and realizing that all of those events played a vast role in his thought of the American Dream. “Happiness and love.” he stated as his American Dream. He continued, “You need these in your life, its what matters to me; it includes family, and friends, and everything in between that makes you happy.”