101 Questions to Ask A Relative

As you get together with family and friends for Memorial Day to celebrate the legacy of loved ones lost, take a few moments to interview your living loved ones. We've got a list of 101 questions to get you started. Use them all or choose some as a springboard for your own questions. The past will come alive and your loved one's legacy will have voice in the here and now. Set up a camera or audio recorder and document it, or email questions to those far away.

1. When were you born?
2. Where did you grow up?
3. Do you remember your first house?
4. Who were your childhood friends?
5. What was your favorite toy?
6. How did you celebrate holidays as a child?
7. Where were your childhood vacations?
8. Did religion play a role in your childhood?
9. Do you remember the first day of school? Your first teacher?
10. What was your favorite way to fill an afternoon?
11. What was your mother like?
12. What was your father like?
13. What were your siblings like?
14. Did you have any pets?
15. Did you like were you lived?
16. What was your favorite childhood food?
17. Where did you shop for groceries and supplies?
18. Did you have a favorite song or singer?
19. What was your favorite subject in school?
20. Did you get good grades?
21. Did you ever cut class?
22. What was the best thing about your childhood?
23. What was the worst thing about your childhood?
24. What is a favorite memory of your mom?
25. What is a favorite memory of your dad?
26. Did you spend much time with your grandparents? What were they like?
27. Who taught you to drive?
28. What was the first car you drove?
29. What was your first job? Were you good at it?
30. Do you remember your first paycheck?
31. What were you most excited about as a teenager?
32. Where did you hang out with your friends?
33. What did you think you'd grow up to be?
34. Who influenced you most as a teenager?
35. When was the first time you felt independent?
36. Who was your first kiss?
37. Who was your first boyfriend or girlfriend?
38. What was your high school prom like?
39. What were summers like where you grew up?
40. What were winters like where you grew up?
41. Did you play any sports or belong to any clubs?
42. Have you ever been in a fist fight?
43. Describe a time when you felt jealous.
44. Describe a time when you felt successful.
45. Who was the first president you really remember?
46. Did you ever have to worry about war?
47. Did you go to college? Where?
48. How did college influence or change you?
49. Did you have a favorite professor or class?
50. What was your first "real" job after high school or college?
51. What did you wear to your first "real" job?
52. Did you like your boss?
53. What excited you most about adulthood?
54. What worried you most about adulthood?
55. What was a typical date like when you were young?
56. Where have you traveled?
57. How many times have you been engaged?
58. How many times have you been married?
59. How did you know that was the person you wanted to marry?
60. Where did you get married?
61. Who was at your wedding?
62. What do you remember about your wedding day?
63. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
64. In what ways was marriage what you thought it would be?
65. In what ways was marriage different from what you expected?
66. How did you choose your career?
67. When was your first child born?
68. What kind of parent were you when your child/children were young?
69. What did you enjoy about early parenthood?
70. How did becoming a parent change you?
71. How much did a gallon of milk cost?
72. How much did a gallon of gasoline cost?
73. What were your ambitions?
74. If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?
75. What is your best personality trait?
76. What is your worst personality trait?
77. Describe your first home where you paid the rent/mortgage.
78. If you won $1000, what would you have done with it?
79. Have you had any health scares?
80. What age did you look and feel your best?
81. How were your thirties different from your twenties?
82. How were your fifties different from your forties?
83. How were your seventies different from your sixties?
84. How old do you feel?
85. What's the most important lesson you've learned in life?
86. What do you think is better about the world today?
87. What technological advances were most significant in your lifetime?
88. Do you remember the first computer you saw? Used? Owned?
89. How are you similar and different from your parents?
90. How are you similar and different from your child(ren)?
91. If you could go back in time to any date in your life, what would it be?
92. If you could spend an afternoon with someone from your past, who would it be?
93. Have you traveled to any foreign countries?
94. Describe your perfect meal.
95. Where do you hope to be in five years?
96. What do you hope your legacy will be?
97. If you could give a piece of advice to the next generation, what would it be?
98. What's the hardest lesson you've had to learn?
99. What is your greatest hope?
100. What is your greatest fear?
101. If you could describe your life in one word, what would it be?

{Image via curiositiesbydickens.com}