Great Thanksgiving Listen
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One of the “Lucky Few” gets Interviewed by a Gen Next: Carson Interviews William
This interview took place in Bill’s (William’s) home in his living room, on November 26, 2017. I interviewed my mother’s step dad, who is my grandfather. Since he grew up having a hard life, I wanted to know the feelings of someone without full support of family and friends. I knew my Papa my whole life, but most of my family didn’t, since my grandma got remarried. This allowed me to learn stories that I didn’t already know, because he did not grow up with either my grandmother, or my mother. During this 20 minute interview, I learned all about how my grandpa grew up, the difficulties in his life, and the inspiring parts of his life.
The questions I asked Bill were:
Who is the most influential person in your life? What have they taught you? Multiple people have influenced Bill in his life, but the most influential person when he was young was his father. His father taught him negative things and he was very hard to relate to. This taught him skills in relationships with people. The most influential person in his life when he was older was his boss, who was the president of the company for 11 years. He taught Bill how to value listening closely and to take knowledge in count, even if you disagree with it.
How do you want people to remember you? Bill would like to be remembered as someone with high integrity, that makes positive impacts. In middle school him and his five friends monitored each other and pulled themselves away from trouble.
Do you have any family traditions? If so, what are they? Family gathering on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays, and his annual family camping trip.
What is your favorite holiday and why? Christmas is Bill’s favorite holiday because everyone is in a positive mood and the Christmas decorations make him happy.
Tell me about your parents and grandparents. Bill’s parents had a very difficult life, but they were great people. His dad was a carpenter and his mother worked at home, without any helpful appliances. When Bill’s sister burnt burnt her hand, if she did not want to get it amputated, she would have to go through very spendy medical procedures. Their parents had to sell their house to pay for the medical bill. Bill only knew his mother’s mother, and she was not around a lot. Her husband left their family when the children were very young, so my Papa Bill’s grandpa was unknown. Bill finally met his grandfather when he was an adult. He missed not having the support of relatives. This inspired Papa Bill to want to be a grandparents and to take his grandchildren on two week trips when they turn ten.
Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Bill grew up in Spokane, Washington and his childhood was very unusual. Where he lived there were small farms and dirt roads. He spent his childhood with friends in the woods and he attended a very small school. There were two classrooms in the school, that consisted of grades 1-6. Sports teams did not happen and the only time they played sports was through physical education in school or in vacant areas.
How were your children growing up? Any stories? Mary was his first child and when she was six months old, she was sitting on the floor and her “Grandma” said “she is a special child”. That stayed in his mind. When Mary was nine years old she was asked to babysit and even at such a young age, she was very successful. Eric was Bill’s second child, and he was very physical. He was frequently getting injured, and one time Mary and Eric had a contest who could get the most stitches. Eric won.
Did you enjoy going to school? Papa did not enjoy school throughout high school. Bill always did his homework and he worked hard enough to get a passing grade. He was very shy and that asl affected his school experience. After going into the navy, Bill attended college, and he loved it. He had a different view and took advantages of all offers. Ever since then, he has enjoyed learning.
What did you do during summer break? Bill usually played in the woods with his friends and went on long distance bike rides. He loved going to a small lake named Wondermier. They would ride there, swim, then ride home.
What have been all of your jobs throughout your life? Bill started of with mowing lawns and carrying in groceries. His first real job was in a variety store when he was 12 years old. He then worked at a Grocery Store in the produce section. Papa Bill has many jobs including he worked at a Auto Tune up store, he worked as a carpenter, sold shoes, managed a telephone department, manufactured for a Italian and German company, then he started a consulting company and a training company. When Bill sold his companies, he then retired.
Do you have any nicknames? Skipper and Skip were his nicknames. His dad used to love sailing so when his mom was pregnant, he would ask “What does the Skipper say?” Later on, that was shortened to skip and it stuck.
Tell me about the love of your life. How did you guys meet? First date? Proposal? Honeymoon? Brenda is the love of his life and they met on a five day white water rafting trip on the Salmon River. After the trip Papa lived in the Portland area and Nana lived in Eugene. Their first date was at a very nice restaurant in Eugene, and they talked so much that the workers had to ask them to leave so they could close up. After two years of dating, Papa decided to propose and it came to naturally and gradually, he knew she was the one. Their honeymoon consisted of a three day raft trip on the Rogue River.They stayed in cabins along the river. During their trip, a huge forest fire was occurring and they were very fortunate and it did not bother them.
Did you ever join the military? What force? Papa joined the Navy when he was 17 years old. If you were less than 18 years old, then you could only join under parent’s permission. His dad said he would allow him to join the Navy or Airforce, but not anything else, because he did not want him to have to sleep in foxholes.
What was your daily life in the Navy? He flew as an operator and technician into warfare and to collect weather data.
What are your religion and spiritual thoughts? Bill is not specifically spiritual, but he believes there are negative effects without them, including not having any mortal guidelines.
Only hearing most of these details for the first time, I surprisingly remember every second of this interview. One moment that really stood out to me was when my grandpa stated when he was young he did not like school at all. Today, my grandpa loves any educational subjects. Bill’s school was grades one through six and there was only two classrooms. This meant there were not many kids going to school at this time. My grandpa stated that school was very boring, and since he was so shy, his social status wasn’t very high.
In all, this interview was full of learning new things, and discovering surprising emotions. I believe my grandpa felt honored to be picked to do this interview, because I have many other family members I could have questioned. Learning new things like how my grandparents met, what his childhood was like, and the jobs my grandpa had, was very interesting. After learning about the hard childhood my grandpa had, I feel even more grateful for the life I have today. When the interview was over, it felt like we just started! Since I was so entertained, I didn’t even know where time went. When I had no more questions to ask, my grandpa and I still had a conversation about other life experiences.