An American Dream Foreclosed
It was summer of 2008; a summer that would carry strong implication of how one, Juan
Francisco Dimas persevered over the odds of a recession. Juan, my father, woke up one
morning in his home in Downey, CA; it was a morning like any other morning he had
woken up to. But on this particular morning, a note was taped ominously to the front door.
Juan looked at the note, and in a second realized that all he had worked for would be taken
away from him in an instant; his house that he worked hard for was being foreclosed. He
knew it was coming, but felt that if he kept it in the back of his mind, it somehow would
all be a nightmare.
Juan felt utter failure; how was he going to tell his family that they would have to leave
home? Devastation flurried through his mind. He recalled his life before America; his life
in Mexico. Juan was a distinguished lawyer who rose above his peers and had made a
name for himself. He left his life in Mexico to pursue the “American Dream;” he wanted a
taste of the land of opportunity, but that taste was all too bitter now. Tears filled his eyes
just thinking of his family’s faces and how they would soon have to say goodbye to the