The American Dream and the Trady family.

     Millions of families across this great nation have experienced the American dream in some way. My parents are living the freedom of home ownership and I too am benefiting from their work by having a suitable place to live. However, without the help of my grandparents fulfilling the American Dream I am not sure if my situation would be as good as it is today. As immigrants coming from poverty and rising to the middle class, I see both my grandfathers as inspirations to me. Their hard work and determination throughout their lives acts as a perfect exampling of working towards the American Dream for my family.


     My father's father, Tom Brady, lived in the Bronx as an orphaned Irish immigrant during the early part of the 20th century. I have heard countless stories from him about his experiences in the city, and about his aunt and uncle who raised him as their son. He worked his way into college, graduated, but as World War II came around he had no choice but to join the armed forces. He enlisted in the Navy and reached the rank of captain. On one event his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and was adrift in the Atlantic for days until being rescued by Portuguese fishermen. This, along with other amazing experiences, showed to him to keep living his life to the fullest. At the war's end he later married my grandmother and raised a family. His life was a perfect example of the American Dream, as he came from the slums of New York to raising a middleclass family in Framingham, MA.

     My mother's father, Ron Buttarazzi, grew up in Rochester, New York with his brother and mother. His father was incredibly abusive and ended up going to prison, and because his mother could not afford a house, he lived in a Catholic Church rectory while his mother worked as a maid and his uncle (who acted as a father figure) was a priest there. His brother and he knew very little English, and they were considered by many richer people as urchins or beggars. He was, and still is, a firm believer in educational opportunities. He worked his way into Le Moyne College, and later became valedictorian from Syracuse Law School. He became an attorney and later a town judge. His hard work set the path for his family into success and I am very grateful for his achievement of the dream.

Those are just two examples of how the American dream affects my family, and my grandmother's too have interesting stories about their lives, but I am not as familiar with them. My family acts as an inspiration to work hard and follow the dream.