Great Thanksgiving Listen
Gabby Thorburn Interviews Grandfather Ted Hunt
I conducted my interview with my grandpa, Theodore Hunt, on November 26, 2017. It was over the phone because I am in Eugene, OR, while he is in Arizona. I asked him a lot of questions about his childhood, jobs, experiences in the Navy, travels, and even the future. I thought my grandpa would be excited to be interviewed, and I knew he had a lot of experiences he would like to share with me. For every question I asked, he was very thorough in his explanation, and I enjoyed listening to everything he said. The interview lasted about 30 minutes in total, which is longer than the 15 minutes I was expecting.
In the interview, my grandpa talked about a lot of topics, and many of them stood out to me. An overall theme that stood out was how life was so different back then compared to now. He said his dad came to South Dakota from Nebraska, with only an 8th grade education. Even though he never started high school, he was able to build windmills and open his own store. Today, it seems people are generally less hard working, because they don’t have to put as much effort into tasks anymore. Technology has advanced to the point where we can do almost anything with the touch of a button.
Many things about this interview surprised me. I was not looking forward to this assignment, but I ended up being glad that I interviewed someone. I called my grandpa because I knew he would enjoy being listened to, and be glad someone wanted to listen. It lasted 30 minutes, because he shared more than I was expecting. As he was talking, I thought of follow up questions, but I never felt the need to ask them; he answered all of my questions before they were even asked.
I learned multiple things from this experience. I had never heard a lot of things he told me about, or I hadn’t been told the full story. Looking back, I probably could have been a better interviewer, but I don’t think it mattered to my grandpa. He was very pleased to hear me ask him about his life. He had a lot of things to share, he just needed someone to listen. In the future, I will ask my elders more about their life, because I bet they too have stories to tell.