Almost nobody thinks to prepare questions for aunts and uncles — and that is a shame, because they are often the keepers of stories that parents do not tell. An older uncle may know how the grandparents met, why the family migrated or what the household’s best-kept secret was. The extended family is a living archive waiting to be consulted.
About grandparents and great-grandparents
- What were our grandparents like when you were young?
- Which story about our great-grandparents do you know?
- Where does our family come from?
About their generation
- What was your relationship like with your siblings (my parents, aunts and uncles)?
- What was the most memorable moment the family lived through together?
- Is there a funny story that became family legend?
What was almost lost
- Is there a custom or recipe that only you still remember?
- What would you like younger people to know about where we come from?
Questions like these expand our list to learn your family’s history and help build a fuller family biography. If you have already interviewed your siblings or your parents, aunts and uncles are the natural next step: they see the same family from an angle no one in the next generation can have.
Pieces that complete the picture
Listening to aunts and uncles fills in the gaps parents left — and brings together different points of view for those who come after.
Look for whoever keeps the stories, without assigning a role
The person who keeps relatives in touch might be an aunt, a cousin, a close friend or someone from chosen family. In families spread across Canadian communities, ask who knows each branch and who organized the photos and letters. Do not automatically assign this work to women. Ask permission to access or copy materials and record where each story came from; whoever keeps a photo may not be the one who can authorize publishing it.
Further reading: StoryCorps — great questions.