Motivation Monday – Preparing for the Holiday Gathering

This entry was posted by on Monday, 26 November, 2012 at

My family celebrates the Christmas Season by getting together on Christmas day, sharing a meal, playing cards and just spending time together. New Years Day is a time for gathering around the television and watching football. Whatever holiday your family celebrates provides a chance to hear stories about your ancestors.

Before the family get together this holiday season do some homework and prepare some questions to ask your older relatives. Check out our new category of blog posts called “Genealogy Interview Questions”. Over the next few weeks before Christmas we will add a number of posts which include some sample questions you can ask. Each post will provide a half dozen or more questions focusing in a particular aspect of your ancestors life. Use these questions or prepare some of your own and you’ll be sure to hear some interesting stories. If you have any additional questions on the day’s topic be sure to reply to this post to let other readers know.

This past Saturday our focus was the sports your ancestor played. On Sunday the questions focused on the Sunday meal. What areas of your ancestors life would you like to learn more about?

Here are some questions to ask your older relatives about their school days.

  • What schools did you go to?
  • Can you show me your high school yearbook? (See if you can get a digital copy)
  • What was your favorite subject? Why?
  • Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
  • Tell me about some of your friends from school.
  • Did your parents let you date or go to dances in high school?
  • If you did go to dances tell me about one you remember.

Try out these questions or think of some on your own. Make the question be opened ended where they can’t be answered with just a yes or no answer. This may prompt them to talk more about their school days.

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2 Responses to “Motivation Monday – Preparing for the Holiday Gathering”

  1. I started gealgeony as an older person to pass on my good fortune. I grew up with 2 grandmothers who were born in the days of the covered wagon and died after man was in space.My Dad’s mother did not tell stories but needed something to do. Her husband died when she was pregnant with her 7th child. After raising them and putting them all through college she never learned how to use free time. Mother had her write down her memories of her life.My Mother’s mother was the Sanchez of the family and I grew up with many family stories from making extra money to coming of kerosene and cars and world fairs. She also wrote down her life story adding tales I don’t think she told or I hadn’t paid attention.We lived in different states than either my parents or in-laws so I am adding my life story.Then I got interested to try to integrate all the stories into several volumes so that They would meld into one whole.My Dad’s family had been forced into doing a gealgeony for his family to discover relationships and I got curious to see how those who came before lived their lives and if any of our traditions could also be traced back to maybe the originating country.I am now addicted.

    • Jim Sanders

      Hi Stacy, Thanks for stopping by. The stories your grandmother left sound great. Have you copied some of them down on a blog or in a book where others would be able to read them? I’d be interested in hearing some of those stories.

      Regards, Jim


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