Questions to ask Grandma

Tips for asking Grandma

• Bring a photo and ask who's in it.
• Ask about one day, not a whole decade.
• Let the grandkids ask. She may answer them differently than she answers you.
• The storyteller can skip any question.

Childhood

1. What did a weekday morning look like in the house where you grew up?
2. Which room in that house do you still picture, and what was in it?
3. Who was usually around in the evening, and what did you do?
4. What did you do on a free afternoon when nothing was planned?
5. What was a task around the house that fell to you?
6. What did you pass every day on your street, and who did you notice there?
7. What did you wear on an ordinary day, and how did you get where you were going?
8. What's a small bit of trouble you got into, and how did it end?
9. Who did you spend the most time with then, and what did the two of you do?
10. What did a hot afternoon look like where you lived?
11. What's a birthday, or a small get-together, you still remember?
12. What did you think being grown would feel like?

Food

1. What's a dish you make, or remember, that never tastes quite the same when someone else makes it?
2. What's the first thing you made that you were proud of?
3. Describe a kitchen you knew well. Where did people sit?
4. What's a recipe you could tell from memory? Say it the way you cook it.
5. What did a regular dinner look like in a home you've lived in?
6. What's a meal that went wrong and is funny now?
7. What food takes you straight back to a particular place?
8. What's a dish people ask you to bring, and how did you come to make it?
9. What's a pan, knife, or bowl you still reach for, and what do you use it for?
10. Is there a handwritten recipe you've kept? What does the note say? (Skip if you'd rather.)
11. What did you like to eat when you were small, and where did you usually eat it?
12. If you were feeding people you like having over, what would you put on the table?

Someone who mattered

1. Who is someone you've loved, as a friend, family member, or partner, and how did you first meet?
2. What did you first notice about a close friend when you met?
3. What's a small kindness someone did for you that you still remember?
4. Who could always make you laugh, and what's one thing they did?
5. Describe an afternoon or evening you spent with someone you cared about.
6. What's a gift, letter, or note from someone you loved that you kept?
7. What song, place, or saying reminds you of a person you've cared about?
8. What's a disagreement with someone close to you that you can smile about now? (Skip if you'd rather.)
9. Who did you most want to tell when you had good news, and why them?
10. What's a habit or phrase you picked up from someone you were close to?
11. What did someone you loved teach you without meaning to?
12. What would you tell a young person about keeping a friendship or love going?

Want one each week?

Kitchen Table Stories emails one question a week and keeps the answers in a private feed. These samples are optional. The family can write their own.

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