The Stories That Bind Us: A Life Story Interview

I am a bit indifferent about if I agree or disagree with the article. On the one hand I think that families that communicate and talk a lot are much more healthy. The children in those families will be more secure about themselves and more confident. But my parents talk to me all the time, I feel like I know them very well, and just because I don't know what my father's favorite cereal was when he was in 3rd grade has nothing to do with how I am as a person. I agree with what the article and what the study is trying to say but I disagree with the way the study was executed, if that makes sense.

Who I interviewed

Victor Vicente Leon II

My grand-father, alongside my grand-mother, my father, and my two uncles on his 80th birthday.

My grand-father during the Korean War, being awesome

Questions:

What was your experience in the military like? 

Do you remember your first date? 

Did you enjoy school? 

What were your best memories in school? 

What was being a teenager like? 

Were you athletic? 

Do you remember what was going on during some important historical times? 

Did you enjoy working as an OBGYN? 

What made you fall in love with your wife? 

What is retirement like compared to working? what were the first few weeks like? 

What did I learn?

All my life my grandpa, or as we call him Papa, has been the one person in my family who I thought had it all figured out. He got married at the right time, he fought for his country, he was a well-respected doctor, a devout christian, a great father, husband and grand-father. He's everything I hope I will be in the future. So when I got an excuse to sit down with him and ask him a few questions I definitely took advantage of it. 

The questions that I asked my Papa were more focused on what he was like during adolescence, and let me tell you he was crazier than I expected. I always thought when he was drafted into the army he was scared about dying, but no, he was excited to be able to go on an adventure in Korea. In fact, he was planning on enlisting into the CIA before he was drafted, something I never even knew. The reason he became a medical doctor instead was because he worked at the MASH in korea and he thought it looked interesting.

I also was very curious how he like retirement so far. He said that for the first few weeks he really missed working because as a doctor, he loved getting to know his patients and guiding them through pregnancy. But after being retired for over a decade he loves being retired. He gets to wake up whenever, eat whatever, and go wherever. His retirement sounds alot like my summer breaks.