As I got older, I have become more interested in my genealogy. However I have learned that the dates are less important than the family stories. I really did not learn many from my grandparents but wish I had asked more.
A friend of mine had the same idea and asked a bunch of us to what questions we wished we had asked our grandparents. His idea would be to compose a list and then write some answer for his grandkids.
The list is quite extensive so I will not repeat it here, but if you are interested I could send it to you.
- What are your fondest memories?
- What are your worst memories?
- What did you do most evenings when you were young? - middle-aged?
- What were your most favorite places you visited/travelled?
- Who were your favorite entertainers?
- What were your hobbies? - interests? - sports?
- What were your parents like? - grandparents? - siblings?
- What were you proud of?
- What were your health problems as you got older?
- What special gifts do you remember getting?
- What were your hopes and dreams when you were a young person?
- What responsibilities did you have in your family?
- What particular role do you think you played within your family?
- What was a typical school day like for you?
- What were your siblings like? - did you have a favorite? - why?
- What factors were driving yours/your parents’ need/desire to emigrate?
- Where did you/your parents come from?
- Who did you/they leave behind?
- What difficulties did you/they encounter?
I must get on with answering these questions.
