Free family interview guide · Printable
40 questions to ask your grandparents about their life
Most of us know our grandparents as grandparents. These questions are for meeting the people they were before — the child on the street, the teenager with a best friend, the young adult making it up as they went.
Choose one section per visit. One good story is worth more than forty short answers.
How to make it a conversation, not a questionnaire
Start with a place or an object — the house they grew up in, a photo, a recipe card. Concrete things bring back memories faster than “tell me about your life.”
Let them skip anything. If an answer is short, try “Can you remember one particular day?” Silence is fine; give them time.
Ask permission before recording or sharing, and read back what you write. Their memory is the source — if two relatives remember it differently, keep both versions.
Early life
- Where were you born, and what’s the earliest thing you remember?
- What was your home like — the rooms, the yard, the street outside?
- What were your parents like when you were small? What did they do for a living?
- Did you have brothers or sisters? What were you like together?
- What games did you play, and who did you play them with?
- What did your family do for fun on a weekend?
- What smell or sound instantly takes you back to being a child?
School and growing up
- What was your school like, and how did you get there each day?
- Which teacher do you remember, for better or worse?
- What were you good at, and what did you struggle with?
- Who was your best friend as a teenager? What did you get up to?
- What music, radio shows or films did you love when you were young?
- Did you ever get into real trouble? What happened?
Love and family
- How did you meet Grandma or Grandpa? What did you notice first?
- What was your wedding day like — or the day you knew this was the person?
- Where was your first home together, and what did you have in it?
- What do you remember about the day your first child was born?
- What was hardest about raising a family, and what was the most fun?
- What were my parents like as children?
- Is there a family saying or joke only we would understand? Where did it come from?
Work and making a living
- What was your very first job, and how much did it pay?
- What work did you do for most of your life, and how did you get into it?
- Who taught you the most at work?
- What are you proudest of from your working years?
- Was there a job or opportunity you turned down? Do you ever wonder about it?
- What did a normal workday look like, from morning to night?
The world they lived through
- Which big news event do you remember exactly where you were when you heard?
- What has changed most since you were young — for better and for worse?
- What were the first car, telephone or television in your family like?
- Did you ever move far from home? What was it like to arrive somewhere new?
- How did your family get through hard times?
- Is there a place you’ve been that you still think about?
Traditions and keepsakes
- Which holiday or celebration meant the most in your family growing up?
- What recipes or traditions did you inherit from your parents?
- Is there an object in your home with a story behind it?
- Which traditions did you start yourself?
What they’ve learned
- What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
- What do you know now that you wish you’d known at twenty?
- What are you most grateful for?
- What would you like us to remember about you?
Five follow-ups that work every time
The first answer is usually a summary. The story comes after one of these. Avoid suggesting how they must have felt — let them tell you.
- Can you remember one particular day?
- What happened next?
- Who was with you?
- Where exactly were you?
- How did you feel about it then — and now?
Turn one answer into a story to keep
- Pick one memory. The one they told with the most detail, or the one that made the table go quiet.
- Set the scene. Place, rough year or age, and who was there. Leave out what you don’t know.
- Tell it in order. Use their words where you wrote them down. Don’t invent dialogue.
- Read it back. Ask what to fix or keep private, and who may receive it.
Let MemoirNest write the first draft
Sit together for one conversation — typed, or spoken in a supported browser. MemoirNest asks the follow-ups, then drafts a short story from what was actually said and marks anything uncertain for you to check. Your first story is free, and you don’t need an account to start.
Optional digital Keepsake: $39.99 once — your story, photos and dedication in a PDF you can print at home or at a print shop. Printing and shipping are not included. See pricing.
Planning a holiday gift for them?
We’ll send one reminder in early December with these questions and a simple way to turn them into a story gift. Nothing else, unless you ask.
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