In This Video
Kenna (she/her) & Jose (he/him) are daughter and father. They talk about parents living through their children and what they do, Jose’s immigration journey, and they both agree that crying is truly a good thing.
VIDEO
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Transcript
me that I don't think I see in myself?
So any human being should-
And I'm stealing these lines
But I think that it's so important
to not have an: I can't do this”
or “I don't know if I can do this”
because then you put yourself already
at a disadvantage. I think.
I think if I was to change anything
or try to convince you of anything is:
The only thing that you'll
miss is the shots that you don't take.
you wish you could heal and why?
I want to say it without crying.
I would probably say like,
I wish you didn't have to go through
I feel like there was a lot
of things you weren't given
Like you could argue that, like,
well, you didn't experience something.
you don't know what it feels like
to have these, like, experiences,
you would have done, like, things
that, like, I could have.
Like, for example, I feel like
it's like I go to school in Chicago.
I feel like that's an experience
that I wish you could have had.
Well, I think we've talked about this.
if you don't experience it
and it's not within your reach.
And I think that's the big issue
that we've always talked about,
because it wasn't in my reach.
But I feel like I don't know.
Like, I've never been to Spain.
But I'm like, Oh, that must be so cool
it must be so cool to go to a World Cup.
Well, I've never been to one.
So I don't know what I'm missing.
it have been cool to do that or like,
But I don't think it was a want
because it goes back to this.
because it wasn't within your reach.
So I don't think I would.
How has your journey become mine?
I think if you were saying
like soccer, for example,
I didn't get an opportunity
because dad was always working
and we just didn't have the resources.
I think I played soccer through you,
and I think a lot of parents do that.
on being successful in soccer.
I think I played soccer through you.
try to live a life through you guys.
probably the thing that that I see.
How have I surprised you most as a father
you've been there for me,
like whenever I call, you always pick up.
Or like, whenever I need anything,
You're just always like that
And I feel like not a lot of kids
Well, but- - Or like, that safety net of like,
you always have someone to go to
I know you would like be there
Well, that's kind of like the job, right?
That's what you sign up for.
Yeah, but what's the best?
I learned throughout life,
with family or with the kids, is
or raising your voice you lose control.
I think the main thing is you got to-
you got to stay in control.
I think it's the hardest thing
because I grew up with a very
with a macho, very strict
you never raised the voice over him.
was to adapt the other way
and just think things out.
the way I learned to cope with
it is to just go back and admit that,
you know, sometimes dads make mistakes.
Do you think that for me, where I'm from
is where I belong? Why or why not?
the way I interpret that question,
I think you got to where you are because
there's a bunch of reasons why you got to
where you are. I think it was luck.
And I also think it was like hard work
in the face of adversity.
a lot of factors that went into play.
like what you said, like preparedness
success is when like preparedness
that was like a big part of the case.
luck was it and like prayer was it.
like everything that you got,
I feel like you really, like, earned it.
Where do you think the tears
I'm holding back now are coming from?
just a really emotional person.
I don't think I’m holding it back.
They're probably coming from me.
and the way I was raised close to mom,
a very sentimental person.
that you get a lot of that from me and
thank God for being able to cry
You know, you cry a little every day.
What is the most powerful lesson
there's nothing you can't do.
I think every time, like,
I don't know if I could do this.
Like, I don't know if I could.
I don't know if I could go to law school.
I don't know if I can go to college.
Like, there's nothing you can't do.
And I think a lot of, like,
the things that I've been able to
do have been because you're like,
there's nothing thing you can't do.
the challenges that you've overcome,
inspired me where I'm like, well, if my
if my parents could do this,
like when they had nothing,
like came to this country
not knowing the language,
like not having anything,
like not knowing anyone here, like
there's no reason why I couldn't do it.
you guys, like, overcame so much
I have to do it because, like,
my parents were able to do it.
our last conversation ever,
what would you never want to-
the memory of what we did,
I would never want you to forget that.
to be remembered for something.
And it should be the people
I would say it's just like
to just know how much I love you
and how much I appreciate,
all the things you ever done for me.
Thanks so much for watching.
If you enjoyed that conversation
and you want to ask these questions
