I interviewed my father for a class paper on someone at a late life stage (70+), and gathered the following information. He's turning 81 on Wednesday.
He boxed in the Marines and has never been afraid of another man physically. He's also never been afraid of any man in business, despite several lawsuits. He never had any fear while hunting in Africa. (How is he still alive?)
He misses the influence he used to have at both the presidential and congressional levels but believes it's appropriate for another generation to come in and take over. (But he thinks "braindead" is a good description for our current president, who doesn't listen to anyone and should have won this war.) He was a power in the Democratic Party before they became foolish and incapable.
One of his favorite things to do is drive his Bentley at 140 mph (reaches 100 mph in 10 seconds) and beat a bunch of young guys in their Porsches. "I shot past them like they were standing still." (Guess I know where I get that form of enjoyment...)
When he was young, JFK was his hero, but that changed when he found out how little JFK achieved and what poor moral character he had, since his fascination with women and his ego led his presidency to slip.
He spent a lot of time around Bush senior and Reagan, over which he increasingly learned how ordinary they were. "Sometimes, they were more ordinary than ordinary people. But familiarity breeds contempt." He spent a lot of time around Avril Harriman, Roosevelt's wise man who brought Roosevelt and Churchill together. The course of WWII might have gone differently otherwise. He spent some time with Nixon and gained respect for him for opening up China for trade and starting detente, despite his personality flaws. (Yeah, my dad likes to show off.)
I correctly guessed his all time greatest hero: Winston Churchill.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are giving money away to charities, which seems nice but, because they're doing so inefficiently, they're only wannabe heroes.
His most important person is his wife, without whom he would have not achieved so much. He beat out 14 major oil companies in being awarded "the world's biggest project - the Alaskan gas project." He wouldn't have done that without a happy, supportive relationship.
The most significant historical event for him was the end of the Cold War, which brought peace to the world and commerce to business, especially for our country. The whole world's attitude changed positively, and we no longer have to live in fear. The "Islamic war" is terrible, but a continuing Cold War would have been more destructive.
His greatest worry is losing his physical health. If he hadn't had money and a close relationship with his surgeon, they wouldn't have operated on his bad shoulder 13 times but, rather, would have given up and amputated. Lots of old people without money become invalids and die when they contract infections in their joints, etc.
His biggest surprise is that he's still living a happy life, which is mainly because of his relationship. He's as happy as he was when he met my mother 35 years ago. He claims that, at this stage, the relationship becomes more dependent, loving, and affectionate. "You have to be sensitive to each other and work to make it work. The more you work at it, the better it gets. The love gets more intense over time."
Things that make him sad:
Illness in himself and family members. Watching other people make mistakes when you know they're mistakes and there's not a lot you can do because they won't listen to you.
Things that make him angry:
Political animosity between the parties today, which is the worst it's ever been. Loss of great leaders and great citizens. The fact that the world can't be educated, especially the blacks and Arabs (pronounced A-rabs). The ones who live such narrow lives can't be reached intellectually to reduce interracial animosity. He gets mad when people misbehave but dislikes telling them so. (Interesting. He used to have no problem criticizing me. LOL.)
What do you enjoy most? "Making your mommy happy."
He's as mentally sharp as he's ever been (including with numbers) and believes you lose it if you stop reading. In seeing his peers, he realizes how much more advanced than them he is - a difference that increases as they all age and the others' acuity withers. He was trained as an engineer, so his vocabulary wasn't very good at first and he didn't write well. But writing his own speeches and avid reading helped.
"I'm more sensitive in my later life because all men should cry. I'll shed tears over tragic events more than I used to when I was younger."
Cute. (Eulogy material for later. I'm so morbid.)
He boxed in the Marines and has never been afraid of another man physically. He's also never been afraid of any man in business, despite several lawsuits. He never had any fear while hunting in Africa. (How is he still alive?)
He misses the influence he used to have at both the presidential and congressional levels but believes it's appropriate for another generation to come in and take over. (But he thinks "braindead" is a good description for our current president, who doesn't listen to anyone and should have won this war.) He was a power in the Democratic Party before they became foolish and incapable.
One of his favorite things to do is drive his Bentley at 140 mph (reaches 100 mph in 10 seconds) and beat a bunch of young guys in their Porsches. "I shot past them like they were standing still." (Guess I know where I get that form of enjoyment...)
When he was young, JFK was his hero, but that changed when he found out how little JFK achieved and what poor moral character he had, since his fascination with women and his ego led his presidency to slip.
He spent a lot of time around Bush senior and Reagan, over which he increasingly learned how ordinary they were. "Sometimes, they were more ordinary than ordinary people. But familiarity breeds contempt." He spent a lot of time around Avril Harriman, Roosevelt's wise man who brought Roosevelt and Churchill together. The course of WWII might have gone differently otherwise. He spent some time with Nixon and gained respect for him for opening up China for trade and starting detente, despite his personality flaws. (Yeah, my dad likes to show off.)
I correctly guessed his all time greatest hero: Winston Churchill.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are giving money away to charities, which seems nice but, because they're doing so inefficiently, they're only wannabe heroes.
His most important person is his wife, without whom he would have not achieved so much. He beat out 14 major oil companies in being awarded "the world's biggest project - the Alaskan gas project." He wouldn't have done that without a happy, supportive relationship.
The most significant historical event for him was the end of the Cold War, which brought peace to the world and commerce to business, especially for our country. The whole world's attitude changed positively, and we no longer have to live in fear. The "Islamic war" is terrible, but a continuing Cold War would have been more destructive.
His greatest worry is losing his physical health. If he hadn't had money and a close relationship with his surgeon, they wouldn't have operated on his bad shoulder 13 times but, rather, would have given up and amputated. Lots of old people without money become invalids and die when they contract infections in their joints, etc.
His biggest surprise is that he's still living a happy life, which is mainly because of his relationship. He's as happy as he was when he met my mother 35 years ago. He claims that, at this stage, the relationship becomes more dependent, loving, and affectionate. "You have to be sensitive to each other and work to make it work. The more you work at it, the better it gets. The love gets more intense over time."
Things that make him sad:
Illness in himself and family members. Watching other people make mistakes when you know they're mistakes and there's not a lot you can do because they won't listen to you.
Things that make him angry:
Political animosity between the parties today, which is the worst it's ever been. Loss of great leaders and great citizens. The fact that the world can't be educated, especially the blacks and Arabs (pronounced A-rabs). The ones who live such narrow lives can't be reached intellectually to reduce interracial animosity. He gets mad when people misbehave but dislikes telling them so. (Interesting. He used to have no problem criticizing me. LOL.)
What do you enjoy most? "Making your mommy happy."
He's as mentally sharp as he's ever been (including with numbers) and believes you lose it if you stop reading. In seeing his peers, he realizes how much more advanced than them he is - a difference that increases as they all age and the others' acuity withers. He was trained as an engineer, so his vocabulary wasn't very good at first and he didn't write well. But writing his own speeches and avid reading helped.
"I'm more sensitive in my later life because all men should cry. I'll shed tears over tragic events more than I used to when I was younger."
Cute. (Eulogy material for later. I'm so morbid.)