Interview with Mr. John Smith: An 83-Year-Old Retired Veteran from Missouri

Introduction

I carried out an interview with Mr. John Smith, an 83-year-old retired citizen of the county of Missouri. He used to work in the American Army before he retired and went back to his home in Missouri. He was a tall dark skinned, African American man with a deep voice and grey hair that stood on his head like a crown. He lived together with his wife who was also retired having worked in the county hospital for more than 30 years. Mr. Johnson could neither hear nor speak well and therefore his wife acted as his guide through out the interview. The interview lasted 45 minutes and covered all matters concerning life and aging as shall be explained below.

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I asked Mr. Johnson what he liked about being his age and him said: "There is nothing harder than watching yourself grow into a burden to the society in which you live and having nothing you can do about it." All the same, he said he liked what he had achieved in his life so far and was proud of himself for having made the right choices most of the time. Moreover, he said he liked the fact that his wife was still around him even after more than 45 years of marriage. He was happy that the "glue that stuck them together as a youth was still alive and well in them".

Mr. Johnson said he did not like the vegetative state he was forced to live in due to old age because he no longer could support himself the way he used to. He said he wished he was younger, more energetic and useful to his family. Although he believed he had attained the reason and the purpose for his life, he said he would have done more if he was given the chance. Mr. Johnson lamented about the fact that the older he grew the more helpless he became and essentially became a burden to his wife. He was grateful that his wife was a retired nurse and hence was used to taking care of patients.

With regard to the issue of life in the future, the story of Mr. Johnson was rather sad and sorry at the same time. He said he saw fear and hopelessness in the near future and pointed to the fact that as people grow older their mental and physical capacities deteriorates over time. He hated to think that he would become more helpless than he already was in a period of ten years. Moreover, he hated the fact that money ran out fast with no assurance of any forms of income for the future. Thus he had to depend on his children for their assistance. Therefore, he foresaw economic hardships, disease, and death as the ultimate price.

I asked Mr. Johnson about what the most important thing in his life was. He mentioned his family his wife and his children. Mr. Johnson believes that his children and his wife would be there for him until the end of time. Mr. Johnson said it is when one is about to die that he values most of his family. At the end of the day, all Mr. Johnson wanted to know was that there would be people by his bedside when he died.

Additionally, Mr. Johnson also believed that his health was of utmost importance to him. He said it would not be possible to leave when was sick and in the hospital bed. Mr. Johnson appreciated for his good health and did not take it for granted but his wife was a retired nurse. I asked him about integrity and he said he believed that he had achieved integrity in his service to the nation as a retired Army officer. Johnson defines integrity as the ability to act honestly all the time even when one has the opportunity to be dishonest when given tasks and responsibility to carry out

Mr. Johnson believed that everything he had done was to the best of the Nation and given another chance he would do the same things he had done. He believed in integrity to mean doing the right thing at the right time and in the right way because it is the right thing to do. Mr. Johnson does not believe in acting out of the belief that one would benefit from what they are doing. Mr Johnson is comforted by the idea that he chose to do the right thing when he had the opportunity to do the opposite

Mr Johnson mentioned a few things that he would have loved to change in his life if he was given an opportunity to go back in time. First of all, he said he would have loved to acquire university education. He believed that his lack of education denied him some opportunities in life that some of his peers were able to acquire because of their higher education status. Additionally, Mr Johnson said he would have loved to have been born to a wealthy family with the ability to sustain his siblings. He said that the need to sustain his siblings denied him the opportunity to provide for his family to the best of his ability. Finally, Mr Johnson said he would have loved to have been more religious than he was. He said it was only when he was 83 years old and about to die that he realized the need for religion in society. He wished he had better health and also a better connection with his family whom he lost because of his engagement at work as an army officer.

Advice to Young People

Mr. Johnson had a number of advice for young people first he would like for them to live their lives to the fullest Mr. Johnson said that his fear for making mistakes tonight him the opportunity to get the best chances out of life and therefore some of his peers surpassed him in terms of their achievement in life. Mr. Johnson did not regret having been an army officer however he said he would have been better placed in society if maybe he was a corporal or Sergeant or a higher position secondly.

Mr. Johnson asks young people to make the right choices but all the times especially regarding matters of HIV and AIDS and sexual behavior. He lamented that many young people today lack moral standards and the ability to abstain from sexual relations until marriage. He mentioned this as one of the reasons why many of them and of contracting sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS. Finally, Mr Johnson said that young people need to properly consider their partners in marriage he said that many of his peers had ended their lives or ended up in divorces because of choosing the wrong people for marriage finally said a marriage partner one chooses to have can either make them or break them.