This is the continuation of the interview with Homer Lee Hawkins titled "Ageless Wisdom" You can read the first part here. "The Art of Being Alive Series: Ageless Wisdom -- Interview With Homer Lee Hawkins, a 90-Year-Old WWII Veteran on the meaning of life (PT 1)
Homer: "I have three daughters, Kathy, Jana and Robbin who lives in Dallas. I am living with one of my daughters and the other one Jana lives in Oklahoma too. How important is your relationship with your grand children from this younger generation, I ask and he says, "I have a good relationship with them, it helps to keep me young. If I didn't have the younger generation to keep up with, I wouldn't have anybody. There is only three or four peers that I know of and two of them are in the nursing home. Are you in contact with anybody from Nigeria, Homer asks me and I reply Yes, I am. I keep up with them very often thanks to technology I said, while we laughed together.
(Image: Homer and his granddaughter Melina Maloukis)
(Image: Homer and his granddaughter on the day of his interview)
Romance, love, marriage and relationships are areas everyone hopes to find great success with, if you are lucky to find any one of the above in your lifetime, I think its beautiful. Great relationships, romance and marriage is all rooted in love and I am finding that for my self as I grow older, that these are the things worth having because it keeps you connected and I am sure helps with longevity and vitality. I was curious as to what Homer's love story is...
Homer: I was married the first time in 1948. My first wife's name was Mary. We lived in Oklahoma city at that time, and I was running a couple of theatres there and we moved to Washington state and I went to work there when she got sick because she had a brain tumor and then we went to Seattle. It was in the right frontal lobe of her head and she had surgery, after then we moved back to Oklahoma City and she had one or two more operations in Oklahoma City and unfortunately, she finally passed away. She was only 24 when she passed away. That was my first wife. My daughters Jana, Kathy, and Robbin are my three daughters and I have three granddaughters and a grandson. Melina is my second granddaughter from my second wife. I was married to my second wife Martha in 1948, and she passed away in 2007. We were married for 55years until she passed away. All my children and grandchildren come from that relationship. 55 YEARS!!? I exclaimed! I asked Homer what the secret is to staying married for 55 years and he laughs and says "keep your nose clean and stay home"
(Homer and his second granddaughter, Melina Maloukis.) (Picture credit, Adedayo)
What was the 'Biggest Challenge of your life experiences'? I inquired...
Homer: "Well, I have done a bit of everything in my life. started out with a little concession stand at the theater, from there learned to be a projectionist and later got to be a manager of couple of theatres in Oklahoma city. My second wife Martha was really sick five years after we got married, that was a very big challenge because she was really sick. She had shock treatments which messed up her head. Melina contributed that her grandmother suffered from Post traumatic stress disorder from her father dying young whom she was very attached to. Melina contributed that she thinks that was the biggest challenge for her grandfather and that the mental health establishment at that time admitted her, some of that were from the family too. "I met Martha at an open theater, she took her shoes off to dance and I noticed that." Homer said. Melina remembers her granddad telling her the story of how her grandmother and grandfather met, she said her grandmother took her shoes off to dance...Homer added, I had taken her in my car to an open theater that day, when she took off her shoes to dance which was very attractive. Mellina describes her grandmother as the belle of the ball and Rodeo queen. she could barrel race and race horses, her family had the first trucking business in Oklahoma and she describes her as being quite a catch, being a free spirit and full of love and sensitive and being beautiful. Melina also describes her grandfather as the look alike of Rock Hudson which he jokes that none of that money rubbed off on him.
Homer's One Advice to Millennials On Living...
Homer: "Stay clean and get the best education they can afford."
The purpose of this project is to explore the meaning of life, what would you say the meaning of life is to you?
Homer: You just Try to do the best you can and live the best you can. Of course I have lived longer than most of my friends. I don't have very many friends that I know of that are left there is a couple that I know who are in the nursing home but you loose track of people over time.
How does being 90 years old feel like?
Homer: Well, It feels like I am heading for the last round of it. I don't know, I just live a day at a time and I don't plan over 10 years ahead. (laughs) If I can live to be a 100 years old, I will be thankful.
When you were growig up and you look back on your life now, is it what you hoped it would be? or do wish you had done more things differently? Do you have any regrets on life?
Homer: "Like most of the people in 20's and 30's, the country was in a recession and everybody was poor and had no money, but I had a good life; I was in the country, I had a good well of water, we will drop a bucket down in the open well and draw the water up. I had to walk up a mile to the school bus and my mother and some neighbor built a shed for us to sit down while waiting on the school bus. It was about six of us that went to school together. I honestly don't sit down to think of if I have any regrets, I just see that I have had a good life.
We all desire Happiness,how will you define Happiness?
Homer: Having good friends, good relationship with your family and living a good straight life. That is about it.
One life principle that has guided you so far in life?
Homer: "Try to treat people like you'll like to be treated as well"
Health is a huge thing to grow in vitality and have longevity, so I ask Homer about how he has managed his health to this stage.
Homer: "I have 100% disability from service connected being in combat Homer stated, I am thankful that I have lived as long as I have with a 100% disability. Melina added that her granddad keeps up with his medicine. She said that homer said some of his peers had problems because they didn't keep up with their medicine. She said he did have heart problem at some point which was a major health issue. He also doesn't eat after 4pm she said, and she thinks that the reason is because of nature, in his time they did a lot of things before the sun went down and so he says, he just got used to eating with the nature time. Also, he reminds that a shot of bourbon a day doesn't hurt. (we all laugh) A way to relax and just relieve stress. little pleasures go a long way, he concluded.
I congratulate Homer and tell him that I am doing this interview to tap into a bit of his wisdom to share with younger generation. Homer said, "I am thankful to be 90. I never thought I will make it here"
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