All people have known an elderly person in their life. Some people have even stood witness to the passing of an aged loved one. Many times people wonder: Was that person happy with the outcome of their life? Was the elderly person fearful of the things to come? Were they ready for the grave? Unfortunately, many of these questions are uncouth to ask at the side of a death bed. Yet, the ability to access the thoughts of a dying senior citizen would show some insight concerning that dreadful future that younger generations will undoubtedly face at the sunset of their lives. A look into such a situation can be found in a short story by Robert Olen Butler entitled "A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain".
             The story is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is centered on an old Vietnamese man who has decided to follow the traditions of his people by having family and friends over for a sort of a "goodbye party." Within the story the character speaks erratically, jumping from subject to subject and never quite finishing one idea in chronological order. At first the reader might believe that the narrator is not of sound mind. Yet, as the reader sees more of the story, they may see that the writer is attempting to open a window into the mind of an old man in the twilight of his life. The character of the old man is full of memories and thoughts of the life that he will soon be leaving behind. Some of the memories are good and some of them are bad, but for the most part he enjoys the thought of them.
             During the course of the story, the old man's friend "Ho", an old life long buddy and fellow soldier, shows up quite often. The nature of these visits from Ho is revealed when the narrator lets the reader in on the secret that Ho is dead, and is visiting the old man from the afterlife. This could be a figment of the old man's imagination, but the phenomena of the visits is corroborated b
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