50 Life Story Interview Questions for Grandparents and Parents

Childhood and home (1–8)

• Where were you born, and what did the first home you remember look like?
• What did your parents do for a living, and what did you think of it as a child?
• Tell me about a sibling or childhood friend who mattered to you.
• What was the smell or taste of your childhood?
• What did you get punished for as a child, and what would you do again anyway?
• What was your favorite game or place?
• Which teacher or adult influenced you, and how?
• What is the naughtiest thing you did that no one ever found out about?

Youth and coming of age (9–16)

• What was school like for you? What did you love and hate?
• What did you want to be when you grew up, and did it happen?
• Tell me about your best friends from those years. Where are they today?
• What was your music? Which song takes you straight back to sixteen?
• What did you do in your military or national service, and what did it teach you about yourself?
• What was the first moment you felt like an adult?
• Which early decision changed the course of your life?
• What were you afraid of then, and did it come true?

Love and family (17–26)

• How did you meet your partner? Tell the full version.
• What did you think of them at the first meeting, honestly?
• How did you propose, or how were you proposed to?
• What was the happiest day in your family's life?
• What have you learned about love that you want the grandchildren to know?
• Tell me about the day your first child was born.
• What was hardest about being a parent, and what would you do differently?
• Which family tradition matters most to you, and where did it come from?
• What do you most love doing with the grandchildren?
• Which trait did you inherit from someone in the family who is gone, and from whom?

Work and the road (27–34)

• What was your first job, and how much did you earn?
• Of all your working years, what are you proudest of?
• Which failure taught you the most?
• Was there an opportunity you passed on? Any regrets?
• Which boss or partner influenced you most?
• If you could choose a profession all over again, what would it be?
• What is the thing you did in life that took the most courage?
• What did an ordinary day look like when you were thirty?

Beliefs and life wisdom (35–42)

• What is the best advice you ever received, and from whom?
• What would you tell your twenty-year-old self if you could?
• What do you believe today that you once didn't?
• What, in your view, is the secret to a good life?
• Which value matters most to you to pass on in the family?
• What did you completely change your mind about over the years?
• What still makes you laugh to this day?
• What does pride mean to you, and when did you feel it most strongly?

Memory and legacy (43–50)

• Which historical moment that you lived through is etched deepest? (war, immigration, a national event)
• Tell a story about your parents that none of the grandchildren knows.
• Which object in the house tells the biggest story, and what is it?
• What would you like people to say about you?
• Which recipe or dish must stay in the family, and how is it made properly?
• What does your name mean, and who were you named after?
• If your grandchild hears one recording of you fifty years from now, what would you want to be in it?
• And what haven't I asked, that matters to you to tell?

How do I use this list for a family history (roots) project?

Pick 10–15 questions that fit the assignment (usually: childhood, origins and immigration, family traditions), record the interview on a phone, and transcribe the important parts. A tip for a nervous interviewee: start with question 45 (the family recipe), it opens everyone up.

How many questions should one session cover?

No more than 5–8. Four fifteen-minute sessions beat one hour-long marathon, partly because people tire, and partly because memory keeps working between sessions and surfaces new stories.

Is video or audio-only better?

Whichever doesn't stress the interviewee. For most older people a camera creates a performance and an audio recorder creates a conversation. The voice is the essence, it is what cannot be recovered later. If you want video too, film only some of the sessions.