Amber Hill

LBST 2102-338
Professor Celia Sinclair
April 14, 2016

The Interview
As I drove up I-26 I knew I was getting close to home when I could see the beautiful
mountains in the distance. This is the best part of the drive, I thought. As I pulled up into my
driveway my Mom and Dad were waiting on the front porch to greet me, as they do every time.
This is the best feeling in the world. I hopped out of my car and gave them both a big hug. I was
excited for a weekend of rest and catching up with family. That evening when we sat down for
dinner, to indulge in my favorite meal, I began to ask my mom the series of questions I had
prepared about the good life.
Debbie King Hill was born on March 29th, 1968 in Hendersonville, N.C. She was the
oldest sibling of two children. She lost her father in a horrible accident at the age of 12. Her
mother, Norma Jean Thompson never remarried. She was married to my father, Dwayne Lee
Hill, at age 21. My mom was a stay at home mom when my younger sister, Christina LaShea
Hill, and I were born. She has lived a simple life with her family. My mom is average height,
green eyes, and blonde hair. She is the type of person to do anything for anyone while asking
none in return; Thats just one of the traits I look up to in my mom.
Question 1: What were your best and worst experiences? My greatest experiences in
life are getting married to your dad and having you and Christi, she said. I was not shocked by
these answers because like I said, this is my moms whole life. She is all about family and

kindness. She then continued by saying having you and your sister is what I am most proud of
in my life. I smiled. I then asked her to tell me her worst experiences. She responded with
losing my parents. I was sad to hear this information from my mom. It was hard to see her
mood fall and for her to be at a loss for words. I told her I was sorry and that I miss them as
well.
Question 2: What would you add to your life right now? She blurted out money, ha ha!
She told me how she had everything right with my dad and her children she just wished she had
more money to be able to live a more comfortable life. My father is a welder in a factory and my
mom is a waitress at a local business. It is sometimes hard for them to pay bills and keep up with
lifes expenses. I hope to one-day give back some of my earnings to them.
Question 3: Do you have any regrets? I believe everyone in life has some sort of
regret, she says. She continued with, I try not to think about my regrets but instead look ahead
to the future. She told me that her two biggest regrets in life were not going to college and not
spending more time with her mother. Out of high school, my dad was making really good
money at his job and they decided they would be fine not going to college. I think this is one of
my moms biggest regrets in life. My grandma became suddenly ill with kidney failure when I
was 12. My mom was 39 years old and had lost both of her parents. Hearing her say this
encourages me to spend as much time with my parents, and the rest of my family, as I can.
Question 4: What is a good life? I told her that I had spend all semester trying to figure
out the same question and that it wasnt easy to simplify it into a few words! She told me, Sure
it is, just live the longest, happiest, healthy life that you can. She told me how the most
important thing in life is spending as much time with the ones you love as you can. Time is
something that you cannot get back. In todays fast-passed world it is easy to be frustrated and

not really live. I want you to make sure that you are always thankful and happy because there are
so many positive things in your life, she assured me. This is not advice that I will take lightly.
Question 5: How does one go about living the good life? I know this is clich but try to
live each day as if it is your last, she immediately said. So many times we get caught up in the
everyday hassle of work, school, and other duties that we miss the most important part of life.
She continued with another great piece of advice, Treat others the way you would want to be
treated. My mom has always encouraged me to be nice and treat others with respect. She
advised us to always try to mend broken relationships and to always apologize.
Question 6: What are the problems we as humans must address? A few of the things that
my mom is passionate about are over population, poverty, and the use of chemicals and
hormones in the food we consume. She is one to always want to give back and help someone in
need. My mom and dad always grow a small garden in the backyard of our house. I think that
this symbolizes something more than just home grown fruit and vegetables. This, to me,
symbolizes the hard work that goes into being a wife and mother. My mom has given up
everything in her life just to make sure ours is the best that she can make it. This is the most
admirable trait that my mother possesses and something I strive to achieve in my life as well.
Question 7: What advice would you like to give me? Ive been giving you advice for the
past twenty years and I do not continue to stop, she said. Finish college, get a good job, buy a
house, and always stay committed and hopeful in your relationships, she continued. She told
me how she always wanted me to be happy and not to take things in life so seriously. She said
that I should continue to exercise to keep myself healthy so that I can be in this world as long as
possible and spend as much time as I can with the ones I love. Her last bit of advice was to Say
I love you every day to the ones that you love. After I told her that was the last question I got up

and hugged her as soon as I could. These times with my mom mean a lot to me and I am
thankful to have such a wise and thoughtful person in my life to guide me.
I like to think of myself as an old soul. I tend to enjoy the simpler things in life, which is
why the similarity of my moms answers to mine does not surprise me in the least. Earlier in this
course I wrote a flash writing in my notebook about what a good life is to me. I included many
of the same things that my mom did. We both value family as the most important thing in our
lives. This interview relates to many things we have covered in class this semester. In Jonathan
Haidts book, he discussed the happiness formula. He explained that the level of happiness
that we experience is determined by our biological set point, the conditions of our lives, and the
voluntary activities that you do. One of the external conditions that he mentioned was
relationships. Haidt talks a lot about relationships and how they are so important to our overall
well-being. Haidt says Good relationships make people happy, and happy people enjoy more
and better relationships than unhappy people. This really relates to the interview that I had with
my mom. Her biggest source of happiness in her life is her relationships. This interview has
given me real life connections between the content of Jonathan Haidts book and the materials of
the class and the real world beyond the classroom. My mom might have a few regrets in her life
however, she has lived a full life and has achieved much happiness so far. I hope to follow my
moms advice as best I can and be able to pass on the advice to my children as well.

Works Cited
Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis. Great Britain: Basic, 2006. Print.
Word count: 1,472

I gave my mom the thank you note in person while I was home.
Thank you note: