Questions to Ask Your Grandparents

---What are your favorite hobbies and pastimes and activities these days?

---Which foods and beverages, and which cuisines of the United States or some foreign country, delight you the most and thrill you the most during this current period of your own life?

---Would you be willing to share with me any of your favorite recipes for foods and beverages, which I can then add to my or my parents' permanent recipe file as a way of remembering you with fondness throughout my own life.

---Which lifelong sports or lifelong athletic activities that you either pursue or watch others pursue are your own personal favorites?

---Which of your current hobbies or pastimes, such as playing a board game, do you especially enjoy pursuing in a context that might also include myself as a participant?

---Do you ever get bored? If so, how do you respond to that type of situation for you?

---Do you keep a diary or personal journal as one of your hobbies or pastimes?

---Please complete the following sentence: "On a rainy day, I would prefer to spend my time by ...."

---In which civic groups or religious groups have you been an official  member in the past? Do you recommend any of those civic groups or religious groups for myself as well?

----Have you ever held a title, such as President or Owner or Vice President, in any career-related context or in a leisuretime context for you?

----Have you ever won an award or prize or received an honor you're proud of?

---Of the various civic groups or religious groups you have been affiliated with, which civic group or religious group provided you with the most helpful information or taught you the most useful skills in a constructive and polite context?

---How would you complete the following sentence: "This year, for instance, I myself learned the following new factual information or new insight or new skill in the following way: ..."

---Do you agree or disagree with those who say that developing a lifelong-education strategy is crucial to the vitality and happiness of any human being?

---Do you have any current hobbies or pastimes that are very out-of-the-ordinary or exotic or rare, and, at the same time, healthy for you?

---Are there any hobbies or pastimes of your past that you would love to continue today if you could, but that you are not physically or financially able to pursue these days for whichever reason?

---Which hobbies or pastimes of your own past did you later "outgrow," so to speak, with yourself apparently concluding during a subsequent period of your own life that you no longer wanted to pursue that particular hobby or pastime anymore?


---Have you ever pursued a hobby or pastime or activity that you later sensed had turned into an unhealthy addiction harmful to yourself and possibly others as well?

---How would you respond to those Americans who say that "If you have your health, you have everything; but if you are in poor health, you have nothing"?

---Which activities of yours during your own younger days did your parents or grandparents disapprove of or reprimand you or punish you for?

---Which activities or accomplishments of yours earned you the most praise and admiration from your parents or grandparents or your teachers or clergymen?

---Which paying jobs or volunteer-work duties did you pursue during your own teenage years?

---If you could somehow imagine yourself starting your entire life over from day one, what one change would you most want to make to your own life or living conditions or career pursuits or priorities?

---In which ways have your own tastes and interests and passions and affinities changed over the course of your own life?

---If you could somehow look back at yourself during the prior time period when you were at my own current age, what advice would you give to yourself for that period of your own life?

---For how many years or months have you been pursuing each of your own current favorite hobbies and pastimes of yours?

---How important are hobbies and pastimes for you in your own life?

---Of the live cultural events you have attended in your life, which cultural events have been the most inspirational to you or the most emotionally fulfiling for you?

---Which first-rate artists and entertainers and actors and writers have you met so far in your own life?

----Who are your favorite authors?

---Which genres of literature do you most enjoy reading? Would that be murder mysteries, non-fiction travel books, romance fiction, non-fiction essays, poetry, theater plays, or some other type of literature?

---Of all the famous persons you have met in your life, which famous person impressed you the most?

---Of all the individuals you have known whom you yourself believe was a truly great person,  which one person do you believe was either underestimated the most by others or wronged the most by others?

---Of all the famous persons you have ever heard about or read about or seen on television or in the movies, which famous person do you believe to be the most similar overall to yourself as a human being?

---How would you complete the following sentence: "The leading heroes of my own life were ..."?

---How would you complete the following sentence: "A good or honorable person is someone who..."?

----What do you love the most about yourself as a human being and as a grandparent?

---Which are the leading strictly platonic and sublimely pleasurable passions of your own life?

----How would you complete the following sentence: "I am at my most creatively fulfilled as a human being and grandparent when I am ..."?

----How would you complete the following sentence: "I am happiest as a human being when I am ..."?

----What do you enjoy the most about being a grandparent?

---What do you enjoy the least, if anything, about being a grandparent?

---Which one day of your entire life so far was your happiest day ever?

---Which decade or year of your own life so far was your all-time favorite, and why?

---How would you complete the following sentence: "The freedom of mine I most appreciate having that's protected by the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution is Freedom of ... "

---How important is religion for you in your own life?

---How would you respond to the following sentence: "The older I get, the more I ..."?

---How would you respond to the following sentence: "If I could somehow give up or cure myself of or rid myself of one vice or bad habit from my own life, that vice or bad habit would be..."

----Have you ever developed an addiction or bad habit in your own life that you later cured yourself of or overcame? If so, what do you believe was the key to your success on that?

---Do you recall anything mischievous or illegal or cruel or sinister that you yourself ever did so far in your own life?

---What was the worst or most cruel thing that any other person ever did to you in your own life, and how did you respond to that humiliating or degrading or alienating experience for you?

---What was the biggest crisis you yourself ever faced in your own life, and who did you respond to that crisis?

---How would you respond to the following sentence: "I am feeling the most optimistic and cheerful about the future of human civilization when I..."?

---Of the various new technologies or inventions that have emerged or progressed quite a bit in the last 10-year or 20-year period, which new technology or new invention excites or delights or pleases you the most as a human being?

----If you were asked to list your "favorite things" from your own life, how would you respond to that question?

---Which credo for living do you believe best summarizes your own advice to other Americans?

---Of all the famous quotations and wise sayings that you have heard or come up with on your own, which quotations or sayings are your all-time favorites?

---Which day or days or events were the happiest or most emotionally fulfilling days or events of your entire life so far?

---Which other "peak emotional experiences" from your own life come to mind for you as having been experiences that have inspired you throughout your life ever since?

---If you were asked to cite each of your own leading fears or antipathies or aversions from your own life, which fears or antipathies or aversions of yours do you currently believe were in fact the most justifiable and wise that you ever had?

---In your own life, did you generally strive to exclude criminal persons and pesons with felony-conviction records from your own circle of friends?

---If you were to write up a personal and professional resume of your entire life so far, what do you believe have been your leading accomplishments as a human being?

---Which book you read was your all-time favorite?

---Who was the finest or best teacher or professor or educator or coach or tutor from your entire life so far?

---Of all the religious sermons you have listened to inside a house of worship in your own life, which one sermon has been the greatest inspiration to you ever since?

---Which skills or subjects or vocations or avocations do you wish you had learned, but never did, and you would also like to see your grandchildren learn those?

---Of all the paying jobs or volunteer work you have pursued in your life, which paying job or volunteer work gave you the most pleasure?

---Do you believe that the primary career or primary volunteer work you pursued was the best possible match for yourself as a human being?

---Which movie or television show or television series you watched was your all-time favorite?

----If you were to imagine your own life story as a Hollywood movie or novel or theatrical play, what do you believe that the title of that work of art should be?

---What do you currently believe were the biggest mistakes you ever made in your own life?

---Which ambitions or dreams you have had for yourself in your own life are ambitions or dreams you would like to pursue, but have not pursued as yet?

----Which foreign countries of the world have you visited so far in your life?

----Which foreign country or foreign countries do you most want to visit in the near future?

-----Which foreign country or foreign countries would you definitely not want to ever visit at any time in the future of your own life?

---If you were allowed to have two citizenships, one in the United States and the other in a foreign country, which foreign country would you select for that second or dual citizenship?

---If you visited the foreign country  or foreign countries that you most want to visit in the near future or sometime next year, which people or cities or tourist sites or other destinations would you include in your itinerary for that trip?

---Do you have any relatives or friends in a foreign country whom you would like to meet with in person during any of the trips you would most like to pursue during this period of your life?

---Which states of the United States have you visited?

---Which states or cities or towns of the United States are your favorite states or places to visit?

---Which places you've visited during your leisuretime have been the best sites or destinations for a multi-generational adventure or shared traveling experience for yourself and younger relatives of yours?

----Do you agree or disagree with the famous saying by 20th Century Oklahoman humorist Will Rogers that "I never met a man I didn't like."

---Do you agree or disagree with those who say that it is wise to never hate another human being, and that it it is generallly preferable to cite specific conduct by another human being that you either dislike or are dismayed be?

---Have you ever chosen to permanently exclude another cited human being from your own life, and if so, which law-abiding steps did you pursue to achieve that legal goal for yourself?

----How important have mutual-consent personal friends been for you in your own life?

----Of your personal friendships that have been the most successful for you on a multi-year basis, what do you believe might explain the success of those mutual-consent and lasting friendships?

----Of your various current personal friendships with persons who are not relatives of yours, are any of those friendships intergenerational in nature?

----What do you believe makes for a successful intergenerational personal platonic relationship between a middle-aged or senior citizen person and someone significantly younger in age?

-----Who have been your best friends from your entire life, not including relatives of yours?

----Which individuals have contributed the most toward your own success as a human being in your own life?

---How important have pet animals been for you in your own life? Of all the pet animals you have raised or helped to raise in your life, which pet was your all-time favorite?

----When you reflect on your family heritage, which accomplishments or human attributes do you most associate with both yourself and your ancestors?

---What do you love the most about yourself as a human being and as a grandparent?

----Is there anything distinctive or special or unique about your own ancestry or family tree that sets you apart from most other Americans?

---What do you love the most about your grandchildren?

---If you could change one thing about the United States or about American society of today, what would you change, and why?

---If you were President of the United States of America for one total day, what would your recommendation to the United States Congress or other Presidential action be on that one total day?

---Which President of the United States was your all-time favorite, regardless of whether he served as President during your own lifetime?

---When are you aware these days of feeling the most proud of the United States as a nation or the most proud of Americans as a nationality of people?

----Which decade or period of your own life has been your happiest so far?

---What were the biggest mistakes you ever made as a human being?

----What were the biggest setbacks or disappointments you ever had in your own life?

----What do you think makes for a successful and lasting mutual-consent personal marriage?

---If you had raised me, rather than my parents, how would you have raised me differently from the way my parents have raised me?

---Do you prefer being a grandparent to being a parent raising children in your own home?

---In which ways do you believe I myself could myself be a better grandchild for yourself than at present?

---Have you ever thought of yourself doing a special videotape or audiotape for me in which you give me a lecture or speech, if you will, about the lessons you have learned from your own life?

----Would you like to participate in a taped or videotaped oral history interview someday, in which I might pose questions to you about your own life, with each of us then keeping a copy of that oral history interview audiotape or videotape to serve as a lifelong inspiration to each of us?

---Do you remember any advice that a grandparent of yours once gave you, and that you now believe was very good advice to yourself?

----What do you most remember about your own grandparents, and the family traditions that your family pursued?

---What do you personally love the most about my mother or father?

---What was the smartest decision you ever made as a parent back when you raised my mother or father during their childhood in your own home?

---Has your own relationship with my mother or father always been harmonious?

----What guidelines would you offer to me on how to address any major interpersonal conflicts that might develop in my own career or personal life?

---As you know, you chose your own spouse, since your relationship was of course a mutual-consent personal marriage. You therefore had a big say over who your children were. However, you did not choose your son-in-law or daughter-in-law. That decision was made by someone other than you. In view of all of this, are you in fact completely sure that you can in fact love your grandchildren as much as you love your own children?

---How would you respond to those who say that grandparents tend to spoil their grandchildren?

---What is the most difficult part about being a grandparent, do you find?

---What advice would you offer me about how I can myself become a successful grandparent someday?

---Of all the grandparents you have seen being depicted in fictional movies or in a fictional television series, which grandparent was your own personal favorite?

---In which ways do you believe that younger persons have misconceptions or inaccurate impressions about their own grandparents?

---Do you ever  get the impression that your grandchildren have no concept of how limited the income of a retired person or semi-retired person tends to be, and that possibly your own grandchildren sometimes expect you to buy them expensive presents that you cannot in fact afford?

---Do you ever get the impression that some of your grandchildren have no concept of what it is like for you financially to primarily rely on a fixed income such as from the monthly Social Security benefits that you receive from the U.S. Government's Social Security Administration?

---Do you ever get the impression that some of your younger relatives regard it as your own fault that you have developed major medical problems, and that your younger relatives might regard you as being somehow negligent for having developed those major medical problems or physical disabilities that you currently have?

---In which ways do I myself  remind you of the biological offspring of yours who is a parent of mine?

---In which ways do I strike you as being very different or different from the biological offspring of yours who is a parent of mine?

----Of the many anecdotes or stories about your own life or about your relatives' lives that you no doubt told your offspring during their childhood, which anecdotes and stories would you be willing to share with me today?

----Which family-heritage stories or anecdotes that your parents or grandparents told you during your own childhood would you be willing to share with me today?

---What do you admire or love the most about your spouse?

---Which season of the year is your favorite, and what makes that season your own personal favorite?

----Which nature parks have you most enjoyed visiting? What set those nature parks apart from the other nature parks you have visited?

---Which are your favorite wild animals and your favorite flowers and botanical plants, and your favorite trees?

----Which state of the United States that you have actually visited has the very finest and most sublime natural scenery?

----Which state of the United States that you actually visited had the best-designed and the most pedestrian-friendly cities and towns, from what you observed?

---In which state of the United States do you believe the people are the friendliest?

---Which major city of the United States do you believe has the friendliest residents?