Now is the time to interview our parents, friends and relatives!

[Neil Mylar LakewoodCA]

Now is the time to interview our parents, friends, and relatives.

In a recent post entitled 'Dad's Birthday' midgetracer from Bismarck ND stated:

"My Dad was born in 1921. He has been gone since 2004. His first car was a 26T. He got me started collecting and restoring old Fords. I miss him every day and still have a hundred questions to ask him."

In 1986, my Dad became bed ridden and I would visit him daily. I had written down many questions that I wanted to ask him and he agreed to let me interview him. Those interview times were good for my Dad and good for me. I learned about his army days, how a smoke grenade blew up in his face and he thought he would be blind for the rest of his life. Fortunately he regained his sight after 3 days. I learned how he met my mom. Those times are priceless to me, but like midgetracer, there are a hundred other questions I wish I would of asked my Dad.
He died of a heart attach while I was with him.

The sad, recent passing of Rainmaker Ron got me thinking about this. Fortunately there are stories and publications of his that we still get to read.

We have no guarantees on how long we will live on this earth. There is no better time, than now to interview our parents, friends and relatives.

[Jim Brierley]

Good idea Neil! I had not done that formally, but paid enough attention that I have decent knowledge of my folks history and with some research by me and relatives, I wrote what I knew down, and add to it when I remember other things. It took some time, but was informative and even fun. I have put in on a disc and given copies to the rest of the family. My "story" covers my family from my great grandfather to the present, and has "chapters" on both sides of our family.

[History]

I agree �� %. I was to interview a member of the 82nd 325 glider who went into Normandy, he died before I got to it. I was to interview a 36th ID member who would never speak to his family about the war, he died before I got around to it. Almost all of those chances are gone. I won't miss another opportunity like this if I can help it. I've almost stopped thinking I need to call my dad every day over a question I have. I did this almost everyday after he passed.

We have no idea what we have until it's gone, but the lucky few.

[KR500]

As a member of the Wisconsin Automotive Historians we encourage either making an outline of questions to pose to a person we would like to interview. A cassette recorder is also a great tool to take along on an interview. Our group has also done DVDs on various people involved in the old car hobby. This was true of Iola Old Car Show initiator Chuck Krause before he passed away. Yes Rainmaker Ron, if he felt he wouldn't mind being interviewed would have been a great candidate to learn of his early involvement in the hobby and his continuing interest. Not all those in the hobby want this legacy and should not be pushed into doing something they don't care to talk about. I would have been honored to interview "Doc" Kalinka from Wisconsin. Never wait till tomorrow to do what can be done today.

[KR500]

Sorry, I meant Chet Krause of Iola, Wisconsin.

[barnstuf]

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Yes, it is a good thought to interview parents for family history before they pass, and I hope they cooperate. In my case I had a lucky break in that as a small child my mother did not read me fairy tales or other stories at bedtime, but would tell me stories about her childhood, her brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, even neighbors. Part of this lore she passed on was about her fathers wartime service in the Civil War. Yes, that is correct my grandfather served in the Civil War as a Lieutenant, wounded twice. Now I am the old timer with a lifetime of stories including my WWII service.

[2manycars]

I have begun writing all this sort of stuff on the computer. I have no idea if anybody will ever read it, but it helps me remonise on days gone by. I have lots of stories, but probably nobody would car except me.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by 2manycars

I have begun writing all this sort of stuff on the computer. I have no idea if anybody will ever read it, but it helps me remonise on days gone by. I have lots of stories, but probably nobody would car except me.

I think the generation most likely to read your story is your grandchildren. They in turn might introduce their children to the story and so long as what we store digitally now can be read in 100 years time, someone WILL read it.
NASA in the 1990's couldn't read data they had recorded in the 1960s and 70s because they had disposed of the hardware. The rate at which info technology is changing and the frequency of updates to out computers, I suspect pen (not ball point) and paper would be better but it is worth the effort.

[Fordfan29]

I fully agree with doing it now! My grandmother lived to be 99 years old and she wrote her own story. She began teaching in the same one room school she graduated from. I missed not interviewing my parents and that has been regretted many times. My mother took a class on writing your own life story & we found it after she passed. It was only one story about her first date with my father but she rewrote it several times. I guess she wanted to get it right or just enjoyed reliving the time. I started writing my own story(s) after that as part of healing. I don't know if anyone will read it either but it has & still is fun to revisit those times. I will always regret the times I was talking when I could have been asking & listening.

Do it now.

[Lona]

About 10 yrs ago, I worked on family genealogy and realized I could only determine names, birth and death dates but nothing about who these folks were, how they lived and what it was like in their times. So, I decided to write down thoughts about my own life from as early as I could remember to just after my wife and I got married 54 yrs ago. I felt it not important to write about more recent times because there are many family members alive who can fill out that piece of history. The objective was to leave a history of what the times were like when I grew up and to leave written copies with our kids and scattered around places where perhaps one copy or two will eventually be discovered, not by our present generations, but for those yet unborn.

Took me about three years to do it but it was finished in 2014 and ended up at 162 pages long. I'm proud to pass on to future generations at least one history of one individual who might be someone's great grandfather or great-great grandfather. It's something I would have cherished had I had something similar from my ancestors.

And, most importantly, put in writing because any other form you save it in will likely not be able to be read in years to come. Mine was done on computer and made into a booklet form.

Glen

[Hoogah]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

. . . . The rate at which info technology is changing and the frequency of updates to out computers, I suspect pen (not ball point) and paper would be better but it is worth the effort.

Fair enough, but WHICH FONT?!!

[TerryH]

Most of us think about asking more questions of our parents and grandparents when it is too late. My grandmother lived to be 92, and I was always going to do a video of her talking about her growing up in rural Okahoma, but I too waited too long.....

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

I think the generation most likely to read your story is your grandchildren. They in turn might introduce their children to the story and so long as what we store digitally now can be read in 100 years time, someone WILL read it.
NASA in the 1990's couldn't read data they had recorded in the 1960s and 70s because they had disposed of the hardware. The rate at which info technology is changing and the frequency of updates to out computers, I suspect pen (not ball point) and paper would be better but it is worth the effort.

now you say pen and paper is better - having this issue with my own families letters from 100+ years ago...written in Finnish...in cursive...by a person who cant spell...

what one can do is type it up in word, print it off and keep it safe somewhere. Then theres the digital version you can dump onto those USB sticks/drives and put somewhere safe and also upload it to some cloud somewhere just incase everything gets lost.

[Tom Endy]

If you are up in your years the one thing you can do is to document your life in a series of articles that describe the various aspects of your life. It is very easy to do in todays computer world. Print the articles out and put them in a notebook. If you have children or grandchildren that seem to be interested in what your life was like, give them copies. If not put the notebooks among your belongings. When you are no longer here someone in the family going through you belongings may discover them and make them known. In most cases there will be someone in the family that will take heed to them and preserve the legacy.

Tom Endy

[Larry Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Tom Endy

If you are up in your years the one thing you can do is to document your life in a series of articles that describe the various aspects of your life. It is very easy to do in todays computer world. Print the articles out and put them in a notebook. If you have children or grandchildren that seem to be interested in what your life was like, give them copies. If not put the notebooks among your belongings. When you are no longer here someone in the family going through you belongings may discover them and make them known. In most cases there will be someone in the family that will take heed to them and preserve the legacy.

Tom Endy

I recently completed an autobiography of my 86 years. It was not the normal writing, but one, besides talking briefly about my life's experiences included brief resumes of my children and wonderful wife.

Each child and wife got an honest opinion of what my observations of them were, being careful not to make their toes too black and blue.

Every one had good points. I may never know if I did the right thing or not. At least they know what their parents went through..