Coney Dog Dollars

My parents arrived in Flint, Michigan from Greece in the 1960s. They were newly married. They had just had my older brother. They got here and didn't have much. They didn't speak the language, they knew very few people. At the time, coming to the United States was a real dream. It was where you went for opportunity, it was where you went for a better life. Much of what they were able to achieve after they got here, they owe to the Coney dog. Coney dog is a Michigan specialty smothered in chili and onions, which they sold for a dollar. I was a typical teen. I wanted those really cool jeans and that pretty dress and longed for a lot of the things that other teens were buying. My Mom and I would really like getting out on a Saturday afternoon, going on a shopping trip, but she always reminded me of what it cost to earn it. She would quote the price of what I wanted in terms of Coney dogs. Those jeans, 30 Coneys. That pretty dress, 80 Coneys. It was a pretty silly way to approach it, but now I understand what I think she was trying to convey. It's one thing to say that or to tell somebody that the value of work is important, but it's a whole other thing to see it and to grow up with it, so I think that what it really taught me is just the type of sacrifice and dedication to really trying to live, in their case, the American dream. I had the good fortune to find Dimensional where I can work among colleagues that share the deep level of respect and value for what those dollars entrusted with us mean to the people who invested them. I feel really proud of what we do here at Dimensional and the commitment we have to the science, to implementing well, and helping our clients be prepared so that they can have a good investment experience, and I never forget every dollar invested with us is somebody else's Coney dog.