question: great questions for anyone
who has been the most important person in your life? can you tell me about him or her?
what was the happiest moment of your life? the saddest?
who has been the biggest influence on your life? what lessons did that person teach you?
who has been the kindest to you in your life?
what are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
what is your earliest memory?
what is your favorite memory of me?
are there any funny stories your family tells about you that come to mind?
are there any funny stories or memories or characters from your life that you want to tell me about?
what are you proudest of?
when in life have you felt most alone?
if you could hold on to one memory from your life forever, what would that be?
how has your life been different than what you’d imagined?
how would you like to be remembered?
do you have any regrets?
what does your future hold?
what are your hopes for what the future holds for me? for my children?
if this was to be our very last conversation, is there anything you’d want to say to me?
for your great great grandchildren listening to this years from now: is there any wisdom you’d want to pass on to them? what would you want them to know?
is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?
is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?
friends or colleagues
if you could interview anyone from your life living or dead, but not a celebrity, who would it be and why?
what is your first memory of me?
was there a time when you didn’t like me?
what makes us such good friends?
how would you describe me? how would you describe yourself?
where will we be in 10 years? 20 years?
do you think we’ll ever lose touch with each other?
is there anything that you’ve always wanted to tell me but haven’t?
grandparents
where did you grow up?
what was your childhood like?
who were your favorite relatives?
do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
how did you and grandma/grandpa meet?
what was my mom/dad like growing up?
do you remember any songs that you used to sing to her/him? can you sing them now?
was she/he well-behaved?
what is the worst thing she/he ever did?
what were your parents like?
what were your grandparents like?
how would you like to be remembered?
are you proud of me?
raising children
when did you first find out that you’d be a parent? how did you feel?
can you describe the moment when you saw your child for the first time?
how has being a parent changed you?
what are your dreams for your children?
do you remember when your last child left home for good?
do you have any favorite stories about your kids?
parents
do you remember what was going through your head when you first saw me?
how did you choose my name?
what was i like as a baby? as a young child?
do you remember any of the songs you used to sing to me? can you sing them now?
what were my siblings like?
what were the hardest moments you had when i was growing up?
if you could do everything again, would you raise me differently?
what advice would you give me about raising my own kids?
what are your dreams for me?
how did you meet mom/dad?
are you proud of me?
growing up
when and where were you born?
where did you grow up?
what was it like?
who were your parents?
what were your parents like?
how was your relationship with your parents?
did you get into trouble? what was the worst thing you did?
do you have any siblings? what were they like growing up?
what did you look like?
how would you describe yourself as a child? were you happy?
what is your best memory of childhood? worst?
did you have a nickname? how’d you get it?
who were your best friends? what were they like?
how would you describe a perfect day when you were young?
what did you think your life would be like when you were older?
do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?
school
did you enjoy school?
what kind of student were you?
what would you do for fun?
how would your classmates remember you?
are you still friends with anyone from that time in your life?
what are your best memories of grade school/high school/college/graduate school? worst memories?
