"Your life is not your own."

This quote was in response to me asking my grandfather what was his greatest accomplishment within his political career.  I believe this is a true statement for any person who becomes a public figure. My grandfather tells the audience his response and then begins to talk about political life in general in regards to his own life and family life too. It's pretty straightforward and matter of fact. My eyes were opened to the fact that a person can't have it all. There will always be an imbalance. If you're a good politician, the family life suffers. If you're a good family man, the political career suffers. It's a no win situation. I plan to follow up this question by exploring how else a politician's life isn't their own. This area piqued my interest.


"It's like anything else... you have to like what you're doing. People are in politics because they LIKE it."

This quote was in response to me asking my grandfather if there was anything else he wanted my audience to know.  Looking back on my interview, I now want to ask my grandfather, "Why do they like it so much?" What's the fascination, the intrigue for those interested? Obviously, it helps to like what one does, but what makes politics so enjoyable that many people are drawn to this civil service? I wonder what makes politics to appealing to some and for others, they could care less. I will make sure to find out the answer as I collaborate with Pop as I edit and add things to my oral history.He talks about being liked and well respected by people in both political parties. This seems to make him happy.

"You're Bob Yost?"

This quote came from a story Pop was telling me. While in rehab this past summer, Pop's roommate recognized his name, and asked my grandfather if he was THE Bob Yost. My grandfather chuckles and thinks this is funny because he hasn't seen this man in over 38 years. He was one of Pop's campaign workers. This man apparently still holds my grandfather up in a high regard. The ironic thing is Pop doesn't feel this way, he feels like a 92 year old man who's stuck in a hospital bed in rehab just like the man next to him. I would like to use this in my oral history in some way. I think it's a nice testament to my grandfather's dedication to his political career. He gave up a lot to have a lot, and to have such a compliment come his way after not only being retired for over 20 years, but even longer since seeing his roommate, was heartwarming and endearing to hear.

          The focus of my oral history is that of my 92 year old grandfather, Robert Yost Sr. and his almost 40 year career in politics in the state of New Jersey, starting with his victory win into the local Civic Association, to his five year term as Register of Deeds for Camden County. I recently sat down with my grandfather and video recorded our interview at his home in Glendora, New Jersey in the house he's lived in since the 1940's.   I initially was worried about Pop's recollection of past events because  for the past eight months or so his health was steadily declining, and some dementia has surfaced. Well, there were no memory problems today! Pop was a sharp as a tack. In fact, when I called the night before to ask if I could interview him, he seemed thrilled to tell his story and even chuckled with that political laugh of his. It was showtime again! 

          I have many goals for my oral history interview.  My first goal is to try to get a general understanding and feel for the world of politics through my grandfather's first person account, and how he got interested in politics in the first place. I try to divide his career into three categories: Politics on the local level, the state level, and finally, the county level.  Another goal I have is to explore what does it take to be a good politician, and why he never aspired to climb the political ladder higher, or did he? My last part of the oral history focuses on accomplishments and regrets.

         Through this interview I learned many things about my grandfather, things I never knew before. Growing up, I was not very close to my paternal grandparents. It's not that they didn't care about me, they did. They were just very involved with my grandfather's career and we didn't have much of a relationship. I mostly saw them on holidays and sporadic weekends at the shore. As my grandfather is nearing the end of his lifespan, I am very thankful that I got the opportunity to get to know him a little better through this oral history project. To hear him retell old stories was fascinating to me. My uncle created  an album dedicated to my Pop's political career, which I plan to steal ideas from for my Oral History page. It's filled with pictures, newspaper clippings, and many letters of thanks, plus so much more. What a treasure for our family to have! I never knew what went on behind the scenes with Pop's career. I moslty remember re-election campaign billboards that said "Re-Elect Bob Yost" on our front lawn year after year, and doing what we could as a family to help him get re-elected over the years. Our family is considered to be the Kennedy's of Glendora, haha. During the interview he was very funny, knowledgeable, and proud as he recounted his political career to me and my audience. I plan to go back this week and wrap up with a few more questions for him.

              I must say that of all our readings from the beginning of the semester, Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation is by far my favorite to date. Although I do not relate to her complete life, I can relate to her relationship with the library. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved going to the library. I loved my school’s library in elementary school, but most of all, I loved my local library. My parents would take me just about every week or two weeks just like Hoffman’s mother took her. I especially loved Hoffman’s quote when she described the library. She says in part, “the space of mystery and magic, one whose threshold I stand a humble acolyte.” I felt the same way. The library was a magical place for me too. I would spend hours on end there, reading different books and picking out many to take home. Often, I could be seen leaving with a pretty large stack of books, and like Hoffman, when I got home, I would immediately begin to read one. I loved reading and still do to this day. I like being whisked to another time. I used to wish like Hoffman did for reality to imitate art. I wished my life was at times like my stories. That would be fun!

            When Hoffman describes reading the books about the boarding schools it reminded me of a time when I had to sneak a book because of its contents. It was a chapter book by Judy Blume entitled Forever. Through the whispers in middle school I heard about this book and bought it when the book fair came to school. It was a story about young love and what young lovers do. I never read a book so fast in my life for fear it would be taken away and I wouldn’t know how it ended. I guess it was racy at the time due to the descriptive language which left little to the imagination. In the end, I loaned the book to my cousin, whose mom took notice of her sudden voracious reading habit. It got taken away, and of course my mom was called because it was my book! The book remained in my dad’s undershirt drawer for years; I guess my parents thought I wouldn’t ever find it??

            There was one particular book I would continually take out over and over. I just loved everything about this particular story. Well a couple of years ago I was searching around Barnes and Noble’s website, and on a whim I looked at the Out of Print books. I ended up finding that book, and my boyfriend bought me one of the copies from a vendor for my birthday. This book that I read over and over is a nice reminder of the Saturdays I spent in the library. It’s one of my most prized possessions! Every now and then I look at this book and am immediately transported back in time to a place filled with mystery and magic.