Interviewing Family Members

I've been working on collecting stories of my family members.  This has been such a fun experience, getting to hear all of the things that happened in their lives, and listening to how happy it makes them to relive those fun memories.  I think it's very important to preserve these memories and have them to look back on, and to share with our children and grandchildren.

Left: My grandmother, Marie.  Right: My grandfather, Calvin, with his siblings.

My son and I have recently been working on our family tree, collecting all sorts of information, and there are lots and lots of questions we still have.  We were able to find a lot of documents and photos, but the stories that our ancestors could have told, that would be priceless right now.  That got me to thinking that I want more than a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a photo; I want to hear their stories.

I did some research and gathered many different questions from all over the place to ask .  Attached are the questions I've been asking.  You can, of course, add/omit questions that fit your family members, but I think this will be a good start.

I've been recording the conversation with my family member, so that I have that audio of them as well, and also taking notes throughout.  You don't have to get the audio, but I thought I'd share that with you as well in case you want to do that.  I love getting to go back and listen to them talk.

Another good idea is to ask them for their favorite family recipe.  And if you can get them to handwrite it for you, that's even better!

So get out there and start interviewing your family members, spend quality time with them, and preserve those special memories and stories they have to tell. 
Family Tree Interview Questions