I recently sat down with my Mom and Dad and asked a series of questions. My goal was to document their early lives and loves. During the course of the evening I discovered some unknown things about my Mom. I have put together her answers so her grandchildren can know more about her early years.  I learned she was named after her Mother’s best friend. One of her fondest memories of her childhood was her time spent with her Father at the firehouse where  he was a Volunteer Fireman.Her favorite books were the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M.Montgomery, and her love of poodle skirts as fashion .I would love to get my hands on a photo of her in a poodle skirt to show the grand kids.My favorite discovery was learning she wanted to be an Artist and live in Greenwich Village, New York when she grew up.  She did not follow her dream to Greenwich Village but she did meet her other goal of being a Mom to a lot of children.

To gain this insight into her early years is a wonderful gift to give to her grandchildren.

Who is Grandma ? This  question coming from your Grandchild is the perfect opportunity to teach your grandchild about your heritage, your likes , your family and your life. Here is a list of questions you can complete as a gift to your grandchildren

The following list is borrowed from this link:

http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/familytreequestions.html

1. What is your full name including any nicknames you have or may have had in the past.

2. Were you named after somebody else?

3. What is your birth date, marriage date and locations of each.

4. What are your parents’ names and their grandparents’ names,
and any nicknames they may have had in the past?

5. What are their birth dates, marriage date and locations of each.

6. What was it like for you growing up in the time period you did?

7. Where did you grow up?

8. Did your family move often and if so where and what time periods?

9. What kind of house did you live in when you were a child?

10. What is your fondest memory (of whom ever you are wanting to know about)?

11. Did your parents or grandparents come to this state from another state? When?

12. What was the city, county, and state?

13. Do you remember your great-grandparents? What do you know about them?

14. Who was the oldest person you can remember in your family as a child?
What do you remember about them?

15. Was there a chore you really hated doing as a child?

16. What would you consider to be the most important inventions
that have been made during your lifetime?

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

18. What kinds of books did you like to read?

19. Do you ever remember not having enough food to eat because times were hard for your family?

20. What were your favorite toys and what were they like?

21.What were your schools like? How did you get there?

22 .Did you and your friends have a special hang-out where you liked to spend time?

23. Were you ever given any special awards for your studies or school activities?

24. How many years of education have you completed? Do you have a college degree?
If so, what was your field of study?

25. Were there any fads during your youth that you remember vividly?

26. How old were you when you started dating?

27. Do you remember your first date? Describe the circumstances.

28. How did you meet the person that you would later marry? Describe them?

29. Describe your wedding ceremony. Who was there?

30. Did you have a honeymoon? If so, where did you go?

31. What wise advice would you give to a grandchild on their wedding day?

32. How many children did you have all together?
What were their names, birthdates and birthplaces?

33. If you had it to do all over again, would you change the way you raised your family? How?

34. What did you find most difficult about raising children?

35. What did you find most rewarding about being a parent?

36. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

37. What was your first job?

38. How did you decide on your career?

39. How old were you when you retired?

40. What were the hardest choices that you ever had to make?
Do you feel like you made the right choices?

41. Who was the person that had the most positive influence on your life?
Who were they and what did they do?

42. What wars have been fought during your lifetime? How did you feel about them?

43. If you served in the military, when and where did you serve and what were your duties?

44. What major illnesses or health problems do you remember having?

45. Do you have any health problems that are considered hereditary in nature?
If so, what are they?

46. Have you ever been the victim of a crime? What happened?

47. What are your religious beliefs?

48. What activities have you especially enjoyed as an adult?

49. What pets have you had?

50. Is there anything you have always wanted to do, but haven’t?