Notebook for Grandma

A few years ago I stumbled on an article about a girl that gave her grandmother a notebook that was filled with questions about her life. When I read about it, I found it very intriguing because although my Great Grandma Anna had been around for my entire life, I really didn't know much about her. I decided to create a notebook filled with questions for her, and I really had no idea what I was about to discover.

I picked up a regular notebook from Target and decorated it with scrapbook paper and sticker letters. From there, I filled each page with questions from "Where did you go to school?" to "Where did you meet your husband?". The day I gave Grandma the notebook, she was reserved. She quietly flipped through the pages and I could tell that she was thinking about her answers. She smiled and said that she would try her best to fill it out for me.

After I gave her the notebook, I discovered that my grandmother was a woman of many words. The woman who was once quiet, reserved in a corner only to speak to ask us how school was going started to open up about her own life. At Christmas dinner, once the plates had been cleared by my mother, was when I learned about the day her and my great-grandfather wed. The days I visited her alone in her trailer while we shared lunch together was when I heard about how her and her siblings lived through the Great Depression. When my sister and I sat with her at the kitchen table,  I learned about how she gave her husband's father a home for a brief period of time in life. 

Without the notebook filled of questions I gave her, this once reserved woman wouldn't have opened up about her life. It was once she discovered we were interested in her story that she started telling tales about times we weren't around for, times we could only imagine, that were only for a life but hers. She was 95 years old when she passed, and she had lived though many historical events that we only read about in history books such as the Great Depression and World War II.

I've learned so much about my Great Grandmother Anna that drew me closer to her as a young adult. She became one of my best friends, and she was always someone that I called on the phone when Trevor and I lived in New Mexico. She was so interested in my life as I was hers, and it was an extraordinary relationship.

Now that she has passed away, my friend is gone, but her memory remains. I not only have the memories of the stories that she told, but I also have her written memories on the notebook pages as well. This is something that I will cherish forever. 

If you find yourself in the same position as me, that your grandparents are still around but you wish to learn more about their lives, I urge you to make a notebook like this. You will learn more about your family history, the hardships that were gone through, and what makes your grandparent who they are today.

For those that wish to make a notebook, here are the questions I included:

1. When and where were you born?
2. Who were your parents and what were they like?
3. How was your relationship with your parents?
4. How would you describe yourself as a child?
5. Did you ever get in trouble as a child? What was the worst thing you ever did?
6. What is the best memory from your childhood? What is the worst?
7. Did you have a nickname, and if so how did you get it?
8. Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?
9. What is your ethnic background?
10. Who were your favorite relatives?
11. Do you remember any stories your relatives used to tell you?
12. Did you enjoy school? What kind of student were you?
13. How did you meet your spouse?
14. How did he propose?
15. Do you have any favorite stories from your marriage or about your spouse?
16. What jobs have you had in your life?
17. Which job was your favorite, and which was the worst?
18. If you could have had any job, which would it be and why?
19. When did you first find out you'd be a parent and how did you feel?
20. Do you have any favorite stories about your kids?
21. Do you have any favorite stories about your grandkids?
22. Have you experienced any miracles?
23. What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life?
24. What is your earliest memory?
25. What are you most proud of in your life?
26. Who was the most important person in your life?
27. What are your favorite hobbies?
28. What is your favorite food?
29. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
30. What is the best vacation you've taken?
31. What traditions have been passed down in your family?
32. If you were to give advice to our family and future generations, what would it be?
33. Is there anything you would like to share with us that hasn't been covered?