Tip: Smile to them and tell them how important they are to you. They will love you for this and answer your questions:

1.What is your full name? When and where were you born?

2.How did your family come to live there?

3.What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?

4.Were there any special items in the house that you remember?

5.What is your earliest childhood memory?

6.What was your favorite toy and why?

7. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?

8.What was school like for you as a child?

9.Who were your childhood heroes?

10.What were your favorite songs and music?

11.What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?

12.How were holidays celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?

13.How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?

14.Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather? 

15.Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?

16.Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?

17.When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?

18.What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?

19.How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?

20.What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?

21.If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?

22.Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?

23.What accomplishments were you the most proud of?

24.What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

Interviewing family members help us learn information about the family history, culture, and the traditions of one's ancestors not found in photographs.

Photographs and civil records give us the documentation but not the essence of the person.

Information from an interview can help make that person come alive in the journaling of your heritage scrapbook.