Thursday, August 21, 2008

Inspiration


No doubt everyone has read or heard of Henry Cejudo winning gold in wrestling at the olympics. His parents are immigrants who came to the U.S. to give him and his siblings a much better quality of life not possible anywhere else. I read the story and was uplifted by his spirit and joy for winning the medal. I can only imagine what it must be like to be representing the U.S. and proving all the nay-sayers wrong that immigrants don't contribute to the U.S. It's funny because his mother moved them at a young age to more out west and my last post was about the immigrants dream being out west. It's stories like Cejudo's that keep the hope alive for the rest of us still in limbo. One day we'll all be celebrating with Cejudo. For now, I'll rejoice in his personal glory.

He has shared everything for most of his scuffled life, from twin beds to sofa cushions to last bites.It only made sense, then, that when he stunningly won an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling Tuesday, the Los Angeles-born son of undocumented Mexican immigrants would also share.That flag gave a chance to a kid who paid for wrestling by selling tamales on the street. That kid now held it tight as he dropped to the mat and dissolved in tears. "I'm living the American dream," said Cejudo, 21. "The United States is the land of opportunity, and I'm so glad I can represent it."

"The United States is the kind of place where you can choose your own path," he said. "We should never forget that.
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