Most family stories are not lost because nobody cared. They are lost because nobody asked the right question at the right time.
“Tell me about your life” is too big a question for anyone to answer. A small, specific question gets a real story back. This free printable gives you 50 of them, in the order a life is lived: childhood, school, love and family, work, hard times, everyday joys, and looking back.
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A few of the questions inside
- Where were you born, and what was the house you grew up in like? Walk me through it room by room.
- What was your wedding day really like, not the version everyone tells?
- What do you want your great-grandchildren, who may never meet you, to know about who you really were?
How to get the best answers
- Ask one question, then wait. The best part of the story usually comes after the first pause.
- Ask “and then what happened?” It is the most useful follow-up question there is.
- Record it. A phone voice memo is enough. Write down names, places and years, because those are the first details to disappear.
- Do not correct them. Their version of the story is the one worth keeping.
Keep their answers somewhere safe
Tale of Life is a free place to keep your family’s stories, chapter by chapter. Grandparents who never liked typing can answer by speaking, and every chapter can be public, family only, or just for you. Prefer one question at a time? Try the free Life Story Question Generator, no account needed.