Make It A Priority To Interview Your Relatives: They Are Your Greatest Source

We live busy lives, schedules jammed from sunrise to sunset, in which we take thousands of photographs. We fill the desire to remember fun events and the people we meet along the way. If our photographs get labeled, either digitally or in print form, they become relevant to our descendants. If we fail to put them in context for future generations, many of our stories get lost.

Similar to the photographs, each one of us holds stories, thousands of them, some trivial, and some extremely significant. We may know family members and friends for years, never knowing some of the most pivotal events in their lives that contributed to who they are today. Interviewing family members during all stages of their lives is a huge resource for genealogists. The interviews help stitch together the lives of those revealed through documents, becoming much richer with the accompanying story.

I have found that the interview, a single one, or a series of questions spread over time, can not only illuminate our understanding of how a family member became the type of person they are, but may sometimes clarify assumptions that we have wrongly made about a timeline or a person’s character.

I encourage you to pick a relative or two, interview them, type up your session, and send it to those in your family circle. It will be a present without bows and wrapping paper, cherished for generations to come. 

by Abby Reddig Moser