Interview with an Older Adult: a Reflection

I was given the opportunity to interview a 68-year old man who will be referred to as “Wallace” to maintain confidentiality and protect his identity. The goal of this interview assignment was to gain insight and examine “successful aging” through the lived experiences of an older person. The interview with Wallace took place at a coffee shop in Morgan Hill, California and I think that it was a great experience for the both of us. Wallace was honored that I was interested in his life experiences and was very eager to help me with this assignment.

Wallace was born and raised in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. He is a Caucasian man in his late sixties. He is the only boy and the second born. He has two sisters, one of which was adopted. He moved to California when he was 20 years old with his family and has lived here ever since. He spent half of his time here in California living in San Diego and now he resides in Morgan Hill.

When asked what his best quality was, Wallace replied with his ability to forgive others. Learning how to forgive others is what he enjoyed most about himself. He said that when he was younger, often times he would hold grudges against others for long periods of time, which led to more pain along the way. He developed a relationship with God and learned that forgiveness is something that he needed to do in order to live a fulfilled life. One of the things that stuck with me was when he said, “forgiveness frees us from the past and allows us to live in the present”. Wallace said that his worst quality was that he talks too much, to the point where sometimes he doesn’t even listen to what others are saying because he is already thinking of what to say next. When I asked Wallace about what has stayed the same about him during his life, he said his sense of humor has remained constant. His fear of death definitely changed as he got older. As he got older, he became less fearful of death. This is partly because he developed a deeper relationship with God as he got older and the fact that he the more content he became with the life that he lived.

When asked about an influential person throughout his life, he began to tear. He talked about his wife and how she had passed away due to breast cancer. He said that losing his wife was one of the biggest turning points in his life. She was a huge inspiration to Wallace and he said that she always inspired him to do better. Even when she was going through chemotherapy, she was an inspiration to him for her strength to smile through the pain.

He talked a lot about his family. He had five children and 13 grandchildren. He emphasized how important family was to him. He appreciated being around his family and his appreciation for them only grew as he got older. The stress that he put on missed opportunities with his family showed me the importance of not taking my for granted.

Looking back on his life Wallace felt that the only thing he could have done differently was to travel more. He wishes that he could have explored the world a little more and experienced more cultures around the world.

I asked Wallace about the best and worst thing about getting older. The worst thing that he said about getting older was the aches and pains throughout his body. The best thing about getting older is being able to watch his grandchildren grow and do the things that he never got to. He mentioned another good thing about getting older is the senior discount, which I thought was funny.

One of the most prominent themes throughout the interview was spirituality and religion. Wallace believes in Christianity and it was eminent that God played a huge role in his lie growing up. He also emphasized the importance of family ties and keeping connections with your loved ones. In my opinion, Wallace was very optimistic, and it seems apparent that he lived a fulfilling life. He displayed many factors of aging successfully and it was my pleasure to take the time to talk with him and reflect back on his life.

Works Cited

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