Interviewing a Relative This Holiday Season

Interview a relative this holiday season while you still have the chance!

How many of us have lamented that we didn't ask our mother this or our grandfather that? Curious what life was like for your daddy on the farm during the Great Depression? Or what it was like for your uncle serving in Vietnam? This holiday season....whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas...sit down with those relatives and talk to them. And this year you might focus on the BIG EVENTS of our lifetime. It's important to get their firsthand knowledge and thoughts.

And not only that, get your kids and grandkids involved. Encourage them to sit down and visit with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and ask them questions about the big events of their day, and what their "take" was/is on these happenings. It can make for very rich discussions and will help them add to their family story. That in turn will add to their own identity and self concept.

You sit and gab with a favorite aunt--ask her some questions.

Start with the BIG EVENTS~

I sat down and came up with a list of what I considered the big events of our lifetime. I consider these events things that had an impact on our lives and our culture. And for sure our kids and grandkids will be studying these in school. How valuable to interview their relatives and get firsthand information.

I stopped with the 1970's. I know my readers can add many more.

Have a moment with your grandmother? Ask her what life was like on the Homefront during World War II.

More on the BIG EVENTS~

I'm thinking you might pick out a big event and be prepared to ask a relative about it. And that relative does not have to have participated in a civil rights protest march or been in the war, but they certainly witnessed such things and felt the effect of them. Ask them about it.

If your grandfather who was in World War II is no longer alive, ask his children if they remember what their daddy told them about it.

More ideas~

Or you can simply print out your list of what you consider the outstanding events of the last century or this century, and hand it to them. Let them speak about any of the happenings in that list.

Lots of Vietnam veterans around. I recently talked to a friend about Vietnam. He shared not so much about the war itself, but what it was like when he came home. Our children and grandchildren need to know this.

​And you won't just be learning firsthand accounts of these news events of the day~

You'll also be learning even more about your loved one. And let's not forget that for some of our elders with some memory loss, reminiscing can be hugely important.

You've always heard that your favorite aunt was a hippie? Ask her about it!

Don't leave out some of the little-discussed major events~

Our kids might not know there was ever a time in our history (besides the Great Depression) where we experienced sugar rationing or gasoline shortages. They should know this.

I write this blog for grandparents, and most of you are my age. We experienced this Recession. We should tell about it.

Those of my generation--let's not leave this one out. This was an incredible time. To my way of thinking, nothing in the music entertainment industry has happened quite like this.

​Websites with interview questions to use~

​www.thoughtco.com/fifty-questions-for-family-history-interviews-1420705

​www.thehealthy.com/family/relationships/questions-everyone-should-ask-their-grandparents/

My blog from last year about interviewing relatives during the holiday~

​www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/interviewing-family-members-while-we-have-the-chance

And one of my recent blogs about telling our ancestors' stories:

​www.gigisseasonings.com/blog/the-big-events-of-our-lifetimesharing-the-part-our-grandparents-played

Parting thoughts~

"If you don't know history, you don't know anything. You're like a leaf that doesn't know it's part of the tree." Michael Crichton

​"Old men and women of the village are books of history and wisdom." African proverb