Aubry Romesburg

Professor Sinclair

LBST 2301

March 2, 2018

Interview on a Good Life

Two years ago, my now-step father ran into my mother in a crowded restaurant and

started talking, they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while. They then decided

to meet over the weekend to catch up and talk about the old times. After that weekend, they

took a trip to Austin, Texas, fell in love and got married two weeks later. After interviewing my

step father, it seems he is still as in love with my mom today as he was the first day he met her.

Normally a love story like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, however I am lucky

enough to experience it and to get to interview the man who is so head-over-heels for my

mother. This man’s name is Jason Earl Shirey and he is 45 years old, born in 1973. I have had

the pleasure of knowing him for about two years and have travelled around the world with him.

The first question I decided to ask Jason was, “We are reading a book called the

happiness hypothesis, its about happiness and what makes people happy, I was wondering

what your personal definition of happiness is and how you try to pursue your personal

happiness?” His definition is to try to achieve everything that you planned for yourself in this

life. He also said that once you achieve said goals, to keep things going and to make sure his

family lives a happy and comfortable life. To pursue this personal happiness, he tries to ensure

that every person in his life is happy and has the necessities that they need to live, he does

what ever he can to ensure that.

 The next question I asked was, “What makes you interesting?” His response was that he

is a “kleptic”, which he explained as he can do anything and everything that he sets his mind to,

whether is his job or just personal things in his life. As I stated before, he has travelled the

world to sight-see and also for his work. For his work, he runs a drill ship for an oil company,

which requires him to travel to dangerous places such as Libya. He was the first American off of

the plane in Libya, North Africa after the Reagan Embargo for oil exploration. He was also a big

key factor in helping clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He got called out and didn’t

get a break off of his work for six months straight. During that spill, he also was involved in the

securing of the whale who was harmed by the oil. Lastly he was involved in the negotiations of

oil trade and exploration with Libya National Oil Company including clients of JAPEX (Japan

Exploration).

I also asked him what is interesting about where he is from. He if from the small town of

Farmerville, Louisiana; if you heard his southern accent you wouldn’t doubt it for a second. One

thing that is interesting about where he is from is the fact that the state of Louisiana is the only

state in America that has parishes instead of counties. The town of Farmerville is in Union

Parish which is the second largest parish in Louisiana, also home of Louisiana’s largest timber

industry. One thing interesting that I noted was the fact that he was born in Union Parish and

now we have moved to North Carolina and reside in Union County.

Next, I asked him what he defines a “good life” as. His answer was plain and simple

saying “When you put God first, family second, and your job third.” To follow up with that

question I asked him how he goes about living that good life. He responded jokingly with

“happy wife, happy life.” Then he went on to explain that going to church, loving on your
spouse, supporting them and their endeavors, ensuring that your kids have a better life than

what you’ve lived, and living life as if today were your last day are the simple steps to living a

good life.

“What are the problems we as humans must address” is the next question I asked Jason.

His response is that respect, or lack thereof, is the greatest problem. He stated that there is a

lack of respect for ourselves which in turn leads to a lack of respect for others. There is no

courteousness, humility, or compassion for others. He feels that the problem with children

today and with the school shooting, burglary’s, and crime is that the kids don’t respect

themselves or each other.

Next, I asked him what he would add to his life right now. Jason responded that he

wishes he could have a job doing what he does closer to home. Right now he works in New

Mexico which is a 26-hour drive, it is very rough when you only get a week or so off every three

months. He wishes he could be able to share more life experiences with his wife without having

to do the sacrifices that he has to deal with currently. I also asked him what his best and worst

experiences in his life were and about how old he was. His worst experience happened when he

was about 27 and he used to be a police officer. It was a late night and he responded to a call

about some teenagers who had been in a car wreck. As soon as he arrived on the scene, a few

other deputies immediately grabbed him and told him to take the night off and that he couldn’t

respond to that call. He learned that his little sister had been in the vehicle that crashed and

she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was the only casualty of the wreck. He then went on to say

that the best experience of his life was running into my mother that night in the restaurant and

being able to fall in love with her, he was 43 at the time.

 I then asked him if he had any regrets in life and he said the only regret that he had was

that he wishes he could’ve furthered his education in a field that would allow him to do

something like engineering so that he would be able to work closer to home. I also asked him if

he is where he thought he would be in life right now. His response was no; he wishes he was

further along in his goals that he has set. However, I learned that he will never achieve his goals

because as soon as he reaches one, he continues to set the bar higher and higher, always

striving to do better in life. Another question I asked was “What’s one event you would go back

to and why?” He would go back to the very first day he met my mother about 15 years ago

when he was in his 30’s. He knew then that he loved her and he said that he would love to go

back then and make his move to save himself years of not having her to be married to.

Lastly I asked him what advice he would like to give me. He said to never settle in life,

never just take something without working for it. Never say “well that’s good enough” when

you know that you can do better. Always value yourself high and know what you want in life

then work to achieve it, whether it be in a relationship, employment, or education and never

give up until you reach it. Always work to achieve what ever goal I set and when I do meet it,

continue to set the bar higher and higher; never stop learning, growing, and developing as a

person.

Overall, the good life seems to revolve around activities and what you value most in life.

For Jason, he values God, family, and work. In the book, we talk about the positive aspects of

suffering. In Jason’s case, he suffered greatly when he responded to that call and found out that

he lost his little sister. However, out of that suffering came the realization of how important

family is and now he does not take anything for granted with his wife or children, he realizes
just how important every moment is spent or how every goodbye could be your last one. The

fact that Jason is so religious also allows for the thought that religion helps to create happiness

and leads to a good life. He believes in a higher power and the fact that there is a plan. This

belief system also helps to cope with loss such as the one as his sister. Knowing one day that he

will see her in Heaven helps to soften the blow in the long term. Religion helps Jason to live a

happy life because attending church, being part of a caring community, and having a purpose

allows him to live his best possible life.

Word count: 1,525