My father is the person that I chose to interview for our Storybook Project. The day of the interview he was casually wearing a golf t-shirt, cargo shorts, and no shoes. The outfit described is his usual outfit of choice on an average weekend/afternoon in the summer and winter. On the day of our interview, he felt a cold coming on and was experiencing a sore throat, which may have affected the length of the interview because he was ready to nap on the couch. My dad is currently fifty-six years old but will turn fifty-seven in a month. If I had to describe my father physically, I would say that he is tall, has dark but graying hair, and always has rosy red cheeks. He is a fun-loving guy, who is usually happy and excited about life. There is truly never a dull moment with him around, and he always keeps my family laughing.

            To summarize the interview, I prepared ten questions based off of the StoryCorps website but ended up using eighteen questions in total. Some questions helped me to see into his past, future, and hopeful legacy, which was the general topic of the questions. I quickly discovered how short-winded my dad is after completing the first few questions within five minutes. The questions chosen reflected who he is as a person and how he was shaped into that person based on past experiences. I picked questions about his childhood and parent’s childhood to help us understand how those stories affected his life today, which gave insight into his personality. Also, I chose questions based on his religion in hope to determine if religion played a part in his life and if he will continue to pass his faithfulness to next generation. Most importantly, I chose questions that helped me to create a sense of generativity and how he plans to live the rest of his life, making it clear that he wants people to remember him as generous and dedicated. Lastly, I asked him what he wanted to see me do with my future and if he felt proud to have me as his only child. All of his answers helped me reflect on the knowledge that he has given me throughout my life and how he has molded me into the person that I am today.

            During the interview, I found it most surprising to hear of his most profound spiritual moment, which was when he became a Catholic. I was a young child when he was welcomed into the Catholic Church and have never known that this moment meant so much to him. I was overjoyed hearing that the faith we practice together is incredibly special and sacred to him. I am thankful to have someone to look up to as I continually grow in my faith and that he will always be there to guide me. Another moment that I found particularly interesting was his answer to the question, “if you could do everything again, what would you do differently?” In his reply, he said that he would go back to college and earn a degree that would allow him to have a higher paying career. I thought this was interesting because he has had the same job my entire life and I could never imagine it another way. Also, throughout the interview, he told many stories about his childhood and what it was like growing up in a different time, and I found this very special. All through my life, I can remember hearing stories about his childhood, growing up in Port Arthur, Texas but most of these stories were new to me. I enjoyed hearing him share stories about his best friends, the trouble they found themselves in often, and especially the stories about my recently deceased uncle. These stories brought happiness to our interview, even when topics about hardships were asked. Overall, the answers to the questions were short and sweet but held much depth and wisdom.

            Before the interview began, I felt nervous because I was unsure about hearing dad's hopeful legacy. As we started the interview, I soon realized that it was comfortable hearing my dad tell me about his life and how he wants people to remember him. It felt natural to interview him, and there were no hesitations after I began the interview. During the interview, I was intrigued and interested in his answers, which made the interview exciting and fun. However, there were times that I almost teared up when he discussed the saddest and hardest moments in his life. At the end of the interview, I was thankful to have been blessed with a dad who cares greatly about my mom and me. I found it very inspiring to hear his outlook on life and how he wants us to remember him one day.

            Overall, the main thing I took away from the interview was never to take life too seriously and always to have fun and laugh. My dad has always taught me to follow my dreams and achieve them, and this interview significantly reflected that aspect of him. I believe that the answers he gave me helped me to gain an even greater connection to my dad, and for that, I will forever be thankful.