Paco Martinez named his sandwich shop after his daughter for good luck.
And for the past month "Alejandra's" has filled a corner of the Glendale Shopping Center.The sandwiches are tasty.
The clientele has been iffy.
And the future is still out to lunch.
But Paco and his wife Eva are upbeat. They've beaten bigger odds.
"I don't have a large dream in life," Paco says, choosing to speak in his native Spanish. "I have a small dream. I'd like to expand the business enough so I can save money for my kids' schooling."
He points to his son Cristobal. "Civil engineer," he says proudly.
He points to Paco Jr. "Lawyer."
Then he points to the tiny namesake of the place, Alejandra. "Anchorwoman on Fox 13 News," he says.
The kids stare back at him. They know dad isn't kidding.
After coming to the states in the mid-'80s, Martinez worked the killing fields along the West Coast, harvesting lettuce, grapes and strawberries. Eventually he saved enough money to return to Mexico and marry Eva.
The two of them had met at a wedding and begun a whirlwind romance filled with song and dance.
Today, Paco smiles at the memory.
"Boy," he says, shaking his head. "Those days are gone."
After the wedding they eventually headed to Utah to rendezvous with relatives.
"I'd heard a lot about Salt Lake City," Paco says. "But I didn't know how lovely it was. The day we arrived it snowed. I was fascinated."
Eva, less than fascinated, returned to Mexico to give birth to Cristobal in the warm climes of Guanajuato, where her family lived. She returned to Utah within the year.
Meanwhile, Paco Sr. worked construction, did cleaning work at night and eventually set aside enough money to put down on a house.
Today, when not manning the sandwich shop, the two of them walk in the park or take the kids to Park City to fish. They describe their family as "small but happy."
When asked what his next move will be, Paco looks off, as if peering at the future.
"Tacos," he says. "I'd like to buy a stove, get a permit and sell tacos."
The American dream, it seems, isn't a grand sweepstakes you eventually win.
It is a tiny path of stepping stones across troubled waters.
By their own calculation, the Martinez family is about halfway across those waters now.
The day the people of Utah of us turn on our television sets and hear the announcer say: "And now, Fox 13 News, with Alejandra Martinez," all of us will know they've arrived.