I have an 88 year old grandfather who's done quite alot of living. He has lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren....some of whom are too young to know him. I want to do a video interview of him for our family to enjoy years from now. Something the young children can watch and get a good idea of who their grandfather was...

For the folks whose loved ones are already passed away, if you could go back in time and ask your grandmother or grandfather some questions, what would they be?

And for the folks who still have their people, what would you like to ask them?

Don't be afraid to list hard hitting questions...... I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks, -joel

6/29/2009 5:23:39 AM

I know it sounds cliche, but I wish I had asked my great-grandparents what it was like growing up in the Great Depression. I would have also asked my great-grandfather to share stories about fighting in the Korean War as a paratrooper.

6/29/2009 6:01:10 AM

honestly. have them speak candidly about their youth. its good to relate and know that they were once young too and not always grandparents. you'd be surprised at some of the stories they have.

6/29/2009 9:33:23 AM

Don't forget the senses. Be sure to ask him what the sights and sounds and so on were like during his early life.

6/29/2009 9:36:21 AM

did he fight in any wars?

6/29/2009 9:43:43 AM

a hard hitting question: (if they smoke or do something bad for their health... although your grandpa is almost 90 so he's doing something good)

I would've asked my Grandpa why he chose to keep smoking 2 packs of Marlboro reds a day instead of quitting when his doctor suggested it and thus be able to spend more time with his grandkids.

and I wish I would have had a picture of him teaching me how to cook/eat crawdads the right way

6/29/2009 10:34:09 AM

on dialup on vacation this week but i'll try to post some questions later - my wife interviewed her grandparents for parents ~5yrs ago and i did the same to my mom's side a few years ago - my grandfather passed away last summer and we were able to play a few clips from the interview at his memorial service - everyone loved it and we were able to watch the entire thing just after he'd passed - i highly recommend doing this

6/29/2009 11:11:57 AM

My grandfather was an engineer and always coming up with quirky ideas, so when he was alive he and I would always talk about different things he wanted to accomplish if money was not an object, hopes, dreams etc. I always like to think if I can save up enough money I can make some of those things a reality. I also think its very important to ask about their childhood, or I know I enjoy hearing about how my grandparents met.

6/29/2009 12:11:46 PM

i did this with my grandmother.
i have yet to watch it only because she died over a year ago and dont really want to watch it. I need to put it on dvd though.
I looked online and there were several sites that suggested questions.
I also asked questions about my father like...did he ever get in trouble etc.that leads to stories.

6/30/2009 7:16:23 PM

Give them something simple and open-ended that basically asks for a story... like "What was the saddest/happiest/most proud/whatever moment of your life?"

6/30/2009 8:02:04 PM

i always like stories about how people met. ask him about how he met your grandmother and the early stages of their relationship. also, how he asked her to marry him and what it was like raising a family.

you may want to consider making a list of the questions and giving them to him in advance so he has time to consider his response to each question. not sure if you were already planning on this, but the answers might not be as good if he's put on the spot and has to answer right away.

additionally, i enjoy stories from my grandma that are accompanied by pictures or objects. i'll be visiting and she'll find a picture and have some story that goes along with it. it adds something to the experience for me. one time i complimented her on a really pretty bracelet she always always wears and she told me the story behind it. apparently my grandpa had hidden it on the christmas tree as an ornament and made her look for it. i thought it was cute

6/30/2009 10:03:15 PM

i thought this was going to be about interviewing for a job over skype or something.

one thing you could do is pick a theme and talk about the impact that it had on each part of his life. For example, say you chose money. You could have him talk about how his views on money were shaped as a child, stories about his first job, then how as he began a family how he felt about spending time with his wife/kids versus his financial obligations. if he was a business owner, what were his secrets to success (or lack thereof). finally finish off with couple of reflective questions along the lines of "was it all worth it, would you have done anything differently?".

of course, you don't have to talk about money, i just picked it because its was an easy application. but you could do something similar but have him talk about family, his favorite hobby, etc. I just think it would be neat to see how his views on whatever topic you choose grew and developed over the years. I think you could learn a lot about a person this way, and probably gain a little of their wisdom along the way.

also check out StoryCorps and This American Life for other ideas and approaches.

[Edited on June 30, 2009 at 10:16 PM. Reason : .]

6/30/2009 10:14:04 PM

given the ease and low cost of video recording these days, you could almost do multiple videos, just sit down and talk to him with the camera rolling for however long. it would be neat to have those conversations recorded and you could edit them into the best of the best for the family. there are so many directions and topics the interview could cover, i almost feel like one isn't enough

6/30/2009 10:26:35 PM

keep it structured, whatever you do. old folks tend to ramble on and go off on tangents.

I would do it like a video-biography. Make a laundry list of events in history that occured during his lifetime, select the most interesting ones, and start filming.

7/1/2009 11:01:20 AM

My parents put CDs together of the kids, this was of course when they had no sound.....by the time it got to me, everyone was bored watching (3 older siblings). I had never seen the video, next time I go home I will watch when I arrived, my section started when my mom got released from the hospital and I was taken to the car to leave.

It is weird how my brother is only 18 months older, but he was always bigger and looked older than he was (now he is now 6'5" 240) and then I came along and was pretty small compared to him (now 5'10" 165) and looked younger than I was.

[Edited on July 2, 2009 at 1:05 AM. Reason : q]

7/2/2009 1:02:34 AM