Gretchen Kandantonakis: A Telephone Interview

A telephone interview was conducted with Gretchen Papandantonakis, a resident of Baltimore Maryland, over the course of two hours. Interview questions were utilized as a point of reference, however the informal conversation involved reminiscing. The interviewee is the author’s maternal aunt, however their relationship resembles that of a mother and child. She is seventy-two years of age and is of Central European descent. She is a retired college professor, also married to a retired professor, originally from Greece. Together they have one son and two grandchildren. Mr. and Ms. Papadantonakis reside in an ethnically diverse, progressive, ecofriendly, politically conscious community. Their middle class home is nestled a lush, well kept

Papadatonakis resides in a home that was modified to suite her physical needs, however it is still difficult to move around the two story home. There is a handicap elevator attached to the railing of the staircase that she takes twice a day, two and from her bedroom. She has a separate bedroom from her husband that is equipped with addition supports. Contrary to the common misconception that the disability is a burden, she noted, “Life is quite good for me. I have a loving husband, three supportive aids who are here for me six hours per day, and half an hour at night”. This assistance enables her to do what she enjoys most, reading in English and Greek, and taking online courses. According to Blanchar (2013, p. 7), many baby boomers who are categorized as middle class, cannot afford private pay nursing home care. Mrs. Papadantonakis recognizes that she is privileged to have the quality of life she has, which could not be achieved without home help. She explained the government assists her with approximately ten dollars a month in assistance. She and her husband pay the aid out of pocket and also treat them as family members, and have assisted them in the past with paying for their dental bills and attorney fees (G. Papadantonakis, personal communication, April 20,

My freedom and independence are probably the two things that I cling to most fiercely. So, I have to make trade-offs. I agree to use a mobility aid to get around, because the alternative is not to get around at all. I prefer a mobility aid that I control on my own, because of the frustration of depending on someone else to get me around. My first experience in a wheelchair controlled by someone else was excruciating. I felt like a non-person. We were boarding a charter bus, and the driver, looking over my head, asked, “Is she able to walk?" I remember shouting back, "Yes, and she can talk, too. Before, when I was able to move independently, I was the one who decided when to stop, where to turn, how fast to move. Suddenly I was at the mercy of another, whose pace did not match at all with mine. But it made sense for me to learn how to deal with this psychological discomfort, if the more important goal was to get somewhere I wanted to be. There are times when a wheelchair is the only way I would be able to participate in something special--for example, a stroll through the roughly tiled streets of a Greek village. Our family travels to Greece every two years to visit my husband's relatives and travel a bit around the country (Papadantonakis,