40 Questions to Ask Your Grandparents Before Their Stories Are Lost

Why ask now

Every family has stories that live only in the grandparents' heads — the village they grew up in, how the marriage was arranged, the year money was tight. Once they're gone, they're gone. Sitting down with these questions over a few evenings is one of the most valuable things you can do for your family.

Childhood

• Where were you born, and what was the house like?
• What did your parents do for a living?
• What games did you play as a child?
• What was your favourite food growing up, and who made it?
• What was school like? Who was your favourite teacher?
• What did your family do for Diwali (or your biggest festival)?
• Did you have a nickname? Who gave it to you?
• What's your earliest memory?

Growing up and young adulthood

• Who was your best friend, and what did you get up to?
• What did you want to be when you grew up?
• What was your first job, and what did you earn?
• What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
• Which film or song takes you straight back to your twenties?
• What was the biggest city you'd seen by the age of 20?

Marriage and love

• How did you meet? Was it arranged, and how did it happen?
• What did you think the first time you saw each other?
• What do you remember about the wedding day?
• Where was your first home together?
• What was the hardest part of the early years of marriage?
• What's the secret to staying together this long?

Becoming parents

• What do you remember about the day your first child was born?
• What was my parent like as a child?
• What was the naughtiest thing your children did?
• What was hard about raising children back then?
• What are you proudest of as a parent?

Work, hard times and lessons

• What work are you proudest of?
• What was the hardest year of your life, and how did you get through it?
• Did you ever move cities or countries? What was that like?
• What has changed most in the world since you were young?
• What's something you wish you had done differently?
• What advice would you give your younger self?

Family, faith and traditions

• Which family traditions do you hope we keep?
• What do you know about your own grandparents?
• Which recipes should we never lose?
• What does faith or prayer mean to you?
• Which family story do you think we always tell wrong?

For the grandchildren

• What do you hope your grandchildren remember about you?
• What did you think the first time you held each grandchild?
• What would you like to tell them on their wedding day?
• What makes you happiest these days?

How to record the answers

Use voice notes or a phone video — it's less formal than writing and you keep their voice forever. Ask a few questions per sitting, follow the stories that light them up, and ask for old photos to go with each story.

If you'd like to turn the answers into something the whole family can hold, the Chapter Co. makes grandparents' legacy books: we hand-illustrate their life story from your photos and recordings, and you approve the full draft before it's printed.

Quick answers