[00:00.00] The American Dream means different things to different people.

[00:05.69]But for many,particularly immigrants,

[00:12.36]it means the opportunity to make a better life for themselves.

[00:18.81]For them the dream is that talent and hard work

[00:24.40]can take you from log cabin to White House.

[00:29.96]Tony Trivisonno did not rise quite so high,

[00:35.71]yet he managed to make his own dream come true.

[00:41.06]TONY TRIVISONNO'S AMERICAN DREAM

[00:46.71]He came from a rocky farm in Italy,somewhere south of Rome.

[00:53.47]How or when he got to America,I don't know.

[00:59.72]But one evening I found him standing in the driveway,behind my garage.

[01:07.08]He was about five-foot-seven or eight,and thin.

[01:13.93]"I mow your lawn,"he said.It was hard to comprehend his broken English.

[01:22.08]I asked him his name. "Tony Trivisonno,"he replied.

[01:29.16]"I mow your lawn."I told Tony that I couldn't afford a gardener.

[01:37.49]"I mow your lawn,"he said again,then walked away.

[01:43.52]I went into my house unhappy.

[01:49.17]Yes,these Depression days were difficult,

[01:54.31]but how could I turn away a person who had come to me for help?

[02:00.87]When I got home from work the next evening,the lawn had been mowed,

[02:07.43]the garden weeded,and the walks swept.

[02:12.47]I asked my wife what had happened.

[02:18.14]"A man got the lawn mower out of the garage and worked on the yard,"she ansered.

[02:24.98]"I assumed you had hired him."

[02:29.94]I told her of my experience the night before.

[02:35.22]We thought it strange that he had not asked for pay.

[02:41.38]The next two days were busy,and I forgot about Tony.

[02:47.34]We were trying to rebuild our business

[02:51.78]and bring some of our workers back to the plants.But on Friday,

[02:59.04]returning home a little early,I saw Tony again,behind the garage.

[03:06.98]I complimented him on the work he had hone.

[03:12.34]"I mow your lawn,"he said.

[03:16.26]I managed to work out some kind of small weekly pay,

[03:22.48]and each day Tony cleaned up the yard and took care of any little tasks.

[03:30.34]My wife said he was very helpful

[03:34.78]whenever there were any heavy objects to lift or thing to fix."

[03:41.26]Summer passed into fall,and winds blew cold.

[03:47.32]"Mr.Craw,snow pretty soon,"Tony told me one evening.

[03:55.78]"When winter come,you give me job clearing snow at the factory.

[04:03.23]Well,what do you do with such determination and hope?

[04:09.18]Of course,Tony got his at the factory.

[04:15.43]The months passed.I asked the personnel department for a report.

[04:21.96]They said Tony was a very good worker.

[04:27.83]One day I found Tony at our meeting place behind the garage.

[04:34.31]"I want to be prentice,"he said.

[04:40.56]We had a pretty good apprentic school that trained laborers.But I doubted

[04:48.10]whether Tony had the capacity to read blueprints and micromters

[04:54.87]or do prcision work.Still how could I turn him down?

[05:02.81]Tony took a cut in pay to become an apprentice.

[05:08.38]Monthls later,I got a report that he had graduated as a skilled grinder.

[05:16.63]He had learned to read the millionths of an inch one the micrometer

[05:23.29]and to shape the grinding wheel with an instrument set with a diamond.

[05:30.45]My wife and I were delighted with what we felt was a satisfying end of the story

[05:38.60]A year or two passed,and again I found Tony in his usual waiting place.

[05:46.78]We talked about his work,and I asked him what he wanted.

[05:52.42]"Mr.Craw,"he said, "I like a buy a house.

[05:58.45]"On the edge of town,he had found a house for sale,a complete wreck.

[06:06.60]I called on a banker friend."Do you ever loan money on character?"I asked.

[06:14.15]"No,"he said. "We can't afford to.No sale."

[06:21.91]"Now,wait a minute,"I replied.

[06:26.17]"Here is a hard-working man, a man of character,I can promise you that.

[06:34.81]He's got a good job.

[06:38.79]You're not getting a damn thing from your lot.It will say there for years.

[06:46.65]At least he will pay your interest."

[06:51.90]Reluctantly,the banker wrote a mortgage for$2,000

[06:58.56]and gave Tony the house with no down payment.

[07:03.73]Tony was delighted.From then on,

[07:08.98]it was interesting to see that any discarded odds and ends around our place

[07:16.43]a broken screen,a bit of hardware,boards from packing-

[07:23.48]Tony would gather and take home.

[07:27.84]After about two years,I found Tony in our familiar meeting spot.

[07:34.79]He seemed to stand a little straigher.

[07:39.96]He was heavier.He had a look of confidence.

[07:46.13]"Mr.Craw,I sell my house!"he said with pride. "I got$8,000."

[07:55.09]I was amazed. "But,Tony,where are you going to live without a hourse?"

[08:03.55]"Mr.Craw,I buy a farm."

[08:09.01]We sat down and talked.Tony told me that to own a farm was his dream.

[08:17.84]He loved the tomatoes and peppers

[08:22.20]and all the other vegetables important to his Italian diet.

[08:29.05]He had sent for his wife and son and daughter back in Italy.

[08:36.10]He had hunted around the edge of town

[08:40.46]until he found a small,abandoned piece of property with a house and shed.

[08:47.91]Now he was moving his family to his farm.

[08:54.02]Sometime later,Tony arrived on a Sunday afternoon,

[09:00.26]neatly dressed.He had another Italian man with him.

[09:06.90]He told me that he had persuaded his childhood friend to move to America.

[09:14.27]Tony was sponsoring him.

[09:19.31]With an amused look in his eye,

[09:23.57]he told me that when they approached the little farm he now operated,

[09:30.93]his friend stood in amazement and said, "Tony,you are a millionaire!"

[09:39.29]Then,during the war,a message came from my company,Tony had passed away.

[09:48.75]I asked our people to check on his family and see that everything was properly handled

[09:56.61]They found the farm green with vegetables,the little house livable and homey.

[10:04.34]There was a tractor and a good car in the yard.

[10:11.58]The children were deucated and working,and Tony didn't owe a cent.

[10:20.04]After he passed away,I thought more and more about Tony's career.

[10:26.99]He grew in stature in my mind.

[10:32.63]In the end,I think he stood as tall,and as proud,a as the greatest American industrialists

[10:42.51]They had all reached their success by the same route

[10:48.07]and by the same values and principles:

[10:53.71]vision,determination,self-control,optimism,self-respect and above al,integrity

[11:04.66]Tony did not begin on the bottom rung of the ladder.

[11:09.99]He began in the basement.Tony's affairs were tiny:

[11:17.64]the greatest industrialists'affairs wre giant.

[11:22.68]But,after all,the balance sheets were exactly the same.

[11:29.95]The only difference was where you put the decimal point.

[11:36.32]Tony Trivisonno came to Americca seeking the American dream.

[11:43.16]But he didn't find it-he created it for himself.

[11:50.24]All he had were 24precious hours a day,and he wasted none of them.

[11:57.51]driveway\ mow\ comprehend\ lawn

[12:09.26]turn a away\ weed\ assume\ compliment

[12:21.54]work out\ weekly\ clean up\ helpful

[12:33.79]do with\ determination\ personnel\ apprentice

[12:45.65]capacity\ micrometer\ precision\ turn down

[12:58.66]graduate\ skilled\ grinder\ grind

[13:11.54]instrument\ for sale\ wreck\ call on

[13:22.59]banker\ loan\ character\ damn

[13:34.73]reluctantly\ mortage\ discard\ odds and ends

[13:49.28]screen\ hardware\ spot\ confidence

[14:01.95]amaze\ amazement\ pepper\ italian

[14:15.82]diet\ send for\ hunt\ abandon

[14:27.68]property\ shed\ sometime\ sponsor

[14:39.15]amuse\ approach\ millionaire\ pass away

[14:51.38]handle \ livable\ homey\ tractor

[15:05.64]stature\ industrialist\ route\ principle

[15:17.50]vision optimism\ self-respect\ above all

[15:30.35]integrity\ rung\ basement\ giant

[15:41.53]balance\ balance sheet\ decimal