LJWorld.com

Photo by Nick Krug

Delmar White

Photo by Kevin Anderson

Miho Hayakawa

It’s been 78 years since historian James Truslow Adams coined the term “American dream.”

In his 1931 book “Epic of America,” he defined the American dream as the idea that there should be “a better, richer and happier life for all of our citizens of every rank.”

Today, with our nation’s first black president in office, wars on two fronts and a crippling economic recession, we asked three Lawrence residents — a pastor, a new mother and an international student — what the American dream means to them.

Lauren Kenny

Mother of Declan, Lawrence resident for three years and student in Kansas University School of Nursing

I was told that motherhood would change me in ways that I could never imagine. I was advised to sleep as much as possible before the baby came. I was given advice on the best baby care products. My entire life has revolved around taking care of other peoples’ children — either baby-sitting, working at a preschool in college or now as a career as a neonatal intensive care nurse. However, none of these things actually prepared me for the birth of my own son.

My baby, Declan, was born May 8, 2009, at 5:34 p.m. After assisting with the delivery, my husband held up a purple, flailing little boy. As my newborn laid on my stomach quietly looking up at me, I realized that I had never loved a stranger so much. For days, we just stared at him, amazed that he was our baby.

I love being a mommy more than I ever thought that I would. I love watching Declan sleep, I love watching him when he’s awake, I love feeding him, I even love changing his diaper. I look at him (and realize I'm biased), but I think that he is the most perfect and sweet and wonderful baby in the world. I want to remember his smell and how soft his skin is.

I think that having Declan has made my husband and I much closer. We could have never imagined how happy we would be with Declan being a part of our lives.

Every parent dreams of what their child will become — maybe he will be the next president of the United States or discover the cure for cancer. In my dreams, I want to be a mother that raises a happy, self-confident, kind and compassionate little boy. So every day, I am inspired to be that mother, and every day I am grateful for the opportunity to be Declan’s mommy.

Delmar White

Pastor, Ninth Street Baptist Church

I was born in 1964 in Lawrence. I have two sisters and two brothers. My early understanding of the “American dream” was formed at the at the age of 13. I was entering the seventh grade at West Junior High School, where I made quite a few friends.

It was as I began to move into these new circles of friends that I began to see the difference between their world and mine. I had the opportunity to spend the night with several friends from school. I was amazed at the size of their homes, the fact that they had their own rooms, and so much of the electronic gadgetry that they had was simply overwhelming to me.

My world was a world of survival. My aged grandmother and mother were the sole providers for me and my two sisters growing up. My grandmother was retired and made $390 per month from Social Security, and my mother worked in housekeeping at the Holiday Inn for 25 years. We always had plenty to eat and a warm and safe home environment, but there wasn't much left for the luxuries of life. I began working at the age of 14 through the summer youth programs that were popular back in the day. The work I did helped pay for school clothes and athletic uniforms.

I viewed then that the American Dream must be to have money to do and buy what you wanted. To live in a big house, to drive a fancy car and to have a family that went on at least two vacations per year. As I got older I came to realize most of the people I was looking to were in over their heads trying to maintain a lifestyle to impress their friends who were also in the same boat.

My wife and I will have been married 27 years this coming September. We have managed to raise three adult children.

We have been able to purchase three homes over time. We have a dog and a three-car garage even though we only have two cars. It has dawned on us both that to live the American dream today means to be surrounded by family, to be loved and love and to be able to provide for those that have been entrusted into our care.

No longer do we desire to keep up with the Joneses, who are now struggling to maintain the trappings of what has been painted as success. We simply are living to move out of debt and trying to be good stewards with the resources that God has blessed us with. I live now with the clear knowledge that it matters not how many toys one has when they die, but rather where one will spend eternity when they die is what is paramount.

Miho Hayakawa

Kansas University student from Japan

The American dream is a symbol of achieving success and wealth. I think American society opens its opportunity to anybody who challenges it. No matter where people come from, America allows them to achieve their goals, if they work hard.

For international students like me, who came to the U.S. to study, the American dream means pursuing what they really want to do. My brother Ryotaro, for example, showed me how he achieved his American dream at Kansas University. He was a pitcher on the KU baseball team from 2002 to 2007.

Growing up watching the Major League Baseball, he had always dreamed of playing baseball in the United States. When Ryotaro arrived in Kansas, he didn’t speak English at all. He couldn’t eat much and was skinnier than his teammates. However, he soon changed. He spent most of his time practicing and ate a lot of food like a giant to catch up his physical gap. As his English improved, he made friends.

His passion for baseball brought him the opportunity to play in the Big 12 tournament and win the championship in 2005. Ryotaro proved to me that the American dream would reward you, if you work hard for your dream. I have been studying at KU for four years and will graduate in December. I experienced many challenges, but Ryotaro is always my role model and helps me to get to where I am.