Questions to ask your family members

A few years ago, I interviewed my dad. I perused several books designed to elicit memories from older family members. I wrote down many of the questions and adapted some, and added some others specific to my family. It took several sessions to get through most of these questions with my dad. Some interviews were in person, others were over the phone. I recorded our conversations and transcribed them, which yielded a 24-page single-spaced autobiography. I hope these questions can be a useful start for interviewing your own family members.

About my mom and dad
My father’s occupation was…
He served his country in…
What I loved most about my father was…
My father was strict about…
My father loved to…
My mother’s occupation was…
What I loved most about my mother was…
My mother was strict about…
My mother loved to…

As a child
As a student, I…
My ambition was…
My neighborhood was special because…
I was taught to drive by…
My first car was…
The car that I dreamed of having was…
I worried most about…
My happiest memory was…
My favorite game was…
My favorite book was…
My favorite singer was…
My favorite radio broadcast was…
My best friend was…
My favorite subject in school was…
My pet…
My favorite food was…
In my spare time I…
I spent summers…
I once got into trouble for…
I got spending money by…
I spent my money on…
A postage stamp cost…
A movie cost…
A gallon of gas cost… 

As a young adult
I started working at…
My responsibilities at work were…
What I remember most about that first job is…
What I didn’t like at that job was…
On weekends…
I first started dating…
My first love was… 

Marriage
I met my significant other…
I liked him/her because…
He/She liked me because…
When we dated, we went to…
My parents thought he/she was…
Her/His parents thought I was…
I/he/she proposed by…
We were married at…
My best man/bridesmaid was…
What I remember most about our wedding day was…
After we were married, we traveled to…
During the first year of marriage, I loved…
During the first year of marriage, I struggled with…
Around the house, I liked to…
When we took trips, we liked to…
As a husband/wife, I tried to be…
My fondest memory of him/her is…
My favorite home-cooked meal was… 

Children
When we were expecting our child, I felt…
What I remember most about the delivery was…
When he/she was born, I felt…
Becoming a mother/father changed my perspective about…
We chose the name _____ because…
Our child/children went to school at…
As a father/mother, I tried to…
I was strict about…
He/she was strict about…
I was very proud that…
I was worried about… 

Holidays
We had a holiday tradition of…
The special foods we had for holidays were…
My favorite holiday memory with the family is…
For Thanksgiving, we usually…
My favorite Thanksgiving memory with the family is… 
The special foods we had for Halloween were…
For Halloween, I remember that our child/children dressed as… 

Travel
My first trip on a plane was to…
What I remember most about that trip is…
The foreign countries I have visited are…
The places I would still love to see are…
My favorite vacation spot in the world is…
I like it because… 

Work
I began working at…
I began working there at the age of…
I began working there because…
What I enjoyed about working was…
What I didn’t enjoy about working was…
One of the biggest honors I had at work was…
I had the opportunity to move to [town] because…
I took the opportunity to move because…
What I missed most about our previous town was…
What I liked best about living in the new town was…
What I didn’t like about living in the new town was…
When I planned to retire, I thought I would settle down in…
I thought I would be busy with…
I actually retired at the age of…
When I retired, I found myself feeling…
I found myself doing… 

Money
A financial risk that worked was…
One that failed was…
The best money deal I ever made was…
When it comes to borrowing, I believe…
When it comes to spending, I believe…
When it comes to saving, I believe…
My attitude about money in general is…

Thoughts on society
Since I was a child, they have invented…
When man landed on the moon, I was…
When President Kennedy was shot, I was…
A time saver my father never had was…
A man’s responsibilities are different today because…
A woman’s responsibilities are different today because…
Movies are different today because…
Opportunities are different today because…
Dating for young people is different today because…
I still like the old fashioned way of…
Life is different for youth today because…
I think the younger generation doesn’t appreciate…
I think the younger generation is wiser about…

More introspective
A philosophy I’ve always lived by is…
My religious beliefs are…
I used to feel very strongly about…
I’ve changed my mind and now I think…
Men I admire are…
Women I admire are…
People who influenced me the most are… because…
I was always proud of the time I…
I always regretted that I didn’t…
As a friend I try to…
If I had my life to live over, I would…
One of the best things about growing older is…
The most precious thing in the world to me is…
My hope for the future would be…
If I could tell my grandchildren one thing about me, I’d like it to be…
A simple statement that sums up my attitude about life is…
My deepest values are…

Today’s favorites

My favorite ­­­­­­­­_______________ is...

• hobby
• exercise
• book
• TV program
• song
• movie
• actor
• actress
• car
• place to live
• holiday
• snack food
• joke

A book I strongly recommend…
The magazine I read most frequently…
My favorite time of day is…
The car I drive now…
The best car I ever had…
The color I like to wear is…
My strangest possession is…
If my house was burning and I could rescue only three things…
My most spiritual moment…
My opinion about the right to have an abortion is…
My opinion about the right to own guns is…
My opinion about the welfare system is…
My opinion about the death penalty is…
My opinion about the rights and services for illegal immigrants is…
Politically, I am (liberal, moderate, conservative)
My mother often said…
My father often said…
A friend I miss the most…
My three best qualities are…
My three worst qualities are…
I am often complimented for…
I like to cook…
At my funeral, I want people to remember me as…
I was absolutely happy when…
My greatest fear is…
I am most comfortable…
My friends tend to be…
A type of person I do not get along with is…
My current philosophy is…
My biggest obstacle right now…
The most important thing in life is…
A piece of wisdom I would pass on to a child is…
A question I would like to be asked is…
My answer to this question would be…
I bought our first house…
My most frightening experience is…
The best public speaker is…
I was impressed by him/her because…
My opinion of Martin Luther King Jr. is…
I would still like to learn…
I would still like to… (do)…
When I first moved away from home…
The cause that has been important for me is…
To maintain a healthy marriage, a husband and wife should…
The changes I would like to see in my life in the next ten years are…
The changes I would like to see in the world in the next ten years are…