My Grandparents Interview

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What is the one thing that has shaped your life more than any other aspect? Today I was able to interview both Gary and Caroline Wardle who are my Grandparents. I went through their life stages, events that have impacted their life and then went into the way they like to be lead and how things have changed since they where little. I was able to connect with them more after this interview and connect both the readings and the research I have done on the Traditionalist generation so far.
Gary and Caroline Wardle were born in 1940; they are at a bright age of 76 years old. Both Gary and Caroline grew up in the hills of Kentucky and later moved to Indiana when they got married. They both grew up in poor families. Gary only made it to 8th grade
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She was in charge of four younger sisters because he mom had to pick up a job to support the family. One of the changes from the Traditional generation to today is the support you have with families and communities. People would pitch in wherever needed and you would see this a lot with the children. My grandma was not as fond with this decision though, because it was a lot of pressure.
When looking at their childhood they had to work around the house and they talked about how that developed their work habits. One of my favorite quotes from my Grandpa growing up which he said multiple times during our interview is that you have to work harder than the person next to you and you will always have a job.
My Grandma was an artist so she never had a job outside of their house, but my Grandpa had the same job for 40 years until he retired. Throughout my research and readings I have found that the Traditionalist generation was know to do this, stay at a job until retirement. When he first started his job after he married my Grandma he was making one dollar and nineteen cents an hour. He talked about how it was simple back then, you either worked or you didn’t get dinner. Whenever I brought up politics they talked about how the presidents have really changed and how they are not as good anymore. They grew up with presidents that led the U.S through rough times and it really brought the country together. We have
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One thing that was brought up is how much they enjoyed their lives no matter the stage or hardships. The have a great optimistic outlook on life and they have seen everything from the first color TV to the first cell phone. It would be beautiful watching the world grow, but at the same time it would be scary to see how fast things move. They are now at a time in their life where they are behind in technology and I think it scares them. My grandpa retired 10 years ago and he has not had a day of rest. He does not do well with sitting around the house. He has picked up multiple jobs working for the community and also volunteering with my grandparents to keep busy. They love helping people and they enjoy being apart of the community through church, and volunteer

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