The American Dream is Alive
In a week that has been eventful with the CA mass killing incidents with the one in Southern California ending right close to a very familiar neighborhood, let’s say it’s created a sense of groundlessness. When you recognize the shopping center on television and know the crossroads, it hits home!
A day later after the chaos and tragedy in Southern California, I was having breakfast at my favorite local diner where I have been going for 25 years. As always, on a weekday morning, you will find retired folks enjoying a mid-morning cup of joe and some eggs with bacon or sausage and normally when I show up, they are intrigued and always wonder if I got fired recently...ha! And then I tell them that I am self-employed and so on….
So as we all chatted sitting on our individual tables, I got talking to a retired 77-year-old Vietnam Era Veteran I will call Mr. R.
In less than 10 minutes, he told me his life story. Born in Southern California, he joined the Air Force and served in Vietnam and North Dakota. Left the military to be a salesman for years for various companies. His wife passed away 15 years ago and he has 2 grown up sons. He has lived in the neighborhood for over 50 years and we discussed how much the neighborhood has changed with lots of crime, traffic and now this event ending with the elderly suspect killing himself in that white van nearby. We grumbled for a bit. What was really cool to learn is that he has built over 1400 feet of a model train track system and has a warehouse that he invites anyone interested to look, operate and have fun with his massive model train set up!
As you can tell, there was nothing out of the ordinary in Mr. R’s story…just like so many across our great country. Simple lives, hard work, life events and interesting hobbies.
As Mr. R got up, he shared his business card with me and invited me to visit the model train warehouse. He was leaving and he turned around and said, “Sunish, remember the American Dream is Alive and let no one tell you otherwise.” He left and I sat. As I finished my cup of coffee, I pondered on the simple statement made by a simple man who lived a relatively simple life.
This uneventful encounter with Mr. R reminded me to celebrate the simplest things in everyday life and to cherish these simplest events and encounters we all have so often.
The American Dream is Alive. It’s up to us to remember that simple statement. Nothing complex. As simple as this Mindful-CPA Log. Nothing special. Just simple.
Be Mindful.