What I’m Watching – A Million Miles Away

Cinderella had the help of her Fairy Godmother.

Dr. Jose Hernandez had his community. This community included his family and friends who were migrant workers up from Mexico to work the harvest. His family had a simple dream. Make enough money to buy a home in Mexico. It’s a good dream. It’s an honest dream.

It’s also limited because it becomes a stopping point for the dream.

The mark of a good father is to give the children a way to succeed in the world. Some do this by laying up wealth and an inheritance. Others, by making sure their children are well connected. Jose’s father had little money to give him. He was a migrant worker and in the scheme of things wasn’t very high on the social ladder.

But he was first class father. In one very poignant scene, he his wife, and the children are arriving at a field to bring in the harvest. Dozens of other migrant families are there. Dad looks at it all, and tells his children, “This is your future.” It’s said with a tone that if you can escape it, do it. What begins is a series of lessons on how to shape your future. They aren’t codified as such, but they work.

Jose’s community also included teachers, bosses, and most importantly, his wife. They all said he could do it. There wasn’t a naysayer in the bunch.

One of the many scenes that illustrates this is one that shows how teachers can shape the future. A young Jose’s teacher, Ms Young, sees his potential. A potential that will never be achieved if he continues a migrant life. She urges his parents to put down roots finally in the United States which they do. It illustrates one more lesson that is codified.

Sometimes the future means sacrificing dreams.

I’m going to kind of stop there. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers here because it’s a film that hits you on a lot of different levels. The migrant homes are inviting, the gentle Hispanic ways very familiar. I could almost smell the food being served and feel the heat of the fields, and the warmth of the welcomes.

Michael Pena and Rosa Salazar are perfect as Jose and Adela Hernandez. They tap into their backgrounds perfectly and show two people on a life journey to do something incredible. It showed their love, sacrifice, and desire to reach for the heavens.

I’ve purchased the movie on DVD, and it will become one I come back to often. I was so impressed with it, I told my friend JR about it. He’d taught Spanish in Rocky Ford, and he told his replacement about it. It will be shown to the class. One thing I really liked was it shows the impact a teacher can have on a single student. Someone they pour into because that person can change the world. One of the most emotional parts of the story was when a few days before he blasted off for the International Space Station, his teacher, Ms. Young came and visited him.

NOTE: Dr. Hernandez’s book “From Farmworker to Astronaut” is on my next to read list. I copied the five steps his father gave him and listed them below. I added my comments in italics.

Step 1 – Decide what you want. Young Jose wanted to be an Astronaut, Period.

Step 2 – Recognize how far you are from your goal. Failure isn’t a stop, but a guide to what you needed to do to get there. Translation, keep moving toward your goal.

Step 3 – Draw a map on how to get there. Sounds like having yourself a plan.

Step 4 – Get yourself a good education. Not just facts, but the kind of an education that teaches you to ask questions and how to find the answers.

Step 5 – Develop a good work ethic and always give more than expected. Nothing comes easy and the world owes you nothing. It’s all up to you.

There’s not a lot of people in this world I’d go out of my way to meet. The man this movie is about is an exception. He’s someone who reached for the stars, and got them.