The topic of death has always been something i am not so familiar with. I have only dealt with the death of about three people who have been very close to me. The two deaths that had the biggest impacts on me were the deaths of my friend Jake Mcdonough and my fathers best friend Sherman Darby. The first interview i conducted was with my friend jakes best friend who would like to remain anonymous. The second interview that I conducted was with my father about the death of his best friend. The questions that i tried to ask them were questions like, how did that persons death impact your life? Where there any things that you didn't know about that person but you later found out after their death? Do you still think about that person and how much?
When i interviewed the anonymous person about jakes death he seemed a bit uncomfortable about it at first but as the interview went on he seemed to ease into the situation a little more. When i asked him if he thought about jake on a daily basis he replied, "of course i do. Jake was my best friend, i saw him every single day. It is very hard to go from seeing someone every day to never seeing them again. When i do think about him though i try not to think about his death so much as i think about all the great moments that happened in his life." This to me showed that it was very hard for him to deal with the death of such a great friend. When i asked him about the impact it had on his life he said, "It impacted me way more then i expected. When I found out about his death i kind of just.. shut down. He died around the time i was taking final exams and i was so upset that i couldn't even get myself to study for the most important test of my school year. Jake was the greatest friend i could have and without him i just wasn't myself.
The interview with my Father was similar but much more emotional since Sherman was my godfather and like a second father to me. When i asked my dad if he still thought about Sherman he replied, "It's hard not to think about the person who you roomed with for almost 10 years. It's hard not to think about someone who was arguably the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Sherman would put me before himself no matter what the situation was. I loved Sherman and i always will as long as i'm still breathing." After this you could see the utter sadness in my fathers face and how emotional of a topic this was for him to speak on. I then asked him if he felt uncomfortable talking about his death. He said, "It's not that i feel uncomfortable, i feel irritated. There are people out there committing crimes and doing horrible things and they live to be very old. Sherman did nothing to harm anyone as long as he was alive and couldn't even make it past his late 60's. It just isn't fair." After this i stopped the interview because i noticed that it was very hard for him to talk about. Death is a very hard topic to talk about especially when it comes to the people closest to you.
Max,
ReplyDeleteYour interviews showed how death can impact people's lives by losing someone close to them. You also touched on how after someone dies they are still remembered by those closest to them. That even though they are gone, they still live on in the memories of others.
Max,
ReplyDeleteYour post was detailed and very personal. You did well to ask insightful questions without pushing boundaries. You had respect for the interviewees and your post was very interesting. Next time, maybe, you could analyze the interviewee's thoughts more.
Max,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately you seem to have closer experiences with death than most people had and for that I am sorry. Your blog seemed very straightforward and honest. I liked your wording and felt that it is a strong point in your writing that keeps me interested and engaged. In particular, “After this you could see the utter sadness in my fathers face and how emotional of a topic this was for him to speak on. I then asked him if he felt uncomfortable talking about his death.” Your word choice here helped me connect and even remember my tough moments, few as they were, with death. Your style of writing is strong here and helped to strengthen your very personal interviews. I could really feel the emotion that your interviewees, and likely yourself, felt as a result of the assignment. I recommend typing your blogs in word and copying and pasting after to avoid any minor grammar mistakes. Proofreading would also be very helpful. Overall this was a great blog.