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Personal History Strategy
Answer select questions from the family history game as a starting point for your personal history.
There are wonderful questions that will help you explore your personal history and that will help you
record it in a way that will allow your descendants to learn about you, who you are, and what you
think about a variety of topics.
The following items and questions can be used to write your own personal history, or to ask of someone you
are helping write their personal history.
- Full name:
- How your parent(s) chose your name:
- Your nickname:
- Your birthplace:
- Your birthdate:
- The address where your parent(s) were living when you were born:
- How long your parent(s) had been living there when you were born:
- Where your parent’s parents were living when you were born:
- Other relatives living near your parents when you were born:
- Describe the dwelling where your parents lived when you were born:
- What you remember about the home where your parents lived when you were born:
- How your parent(s) were earning a living when your were born:
- Other siblings’ names and ages that were living when your were born:
- Your earliest childhood memory?
- Popular games played in your childhood:
- Typical chores required by you or other siblings during your/their childhood:
- Your favorite and least favorite chore:
- Typical allowance earned by you and your siblings.
- What did you do with the allowance you earned?
- When did you begin school?
- What was the name of the school?
- Who was your first and subsequent teachers?
- What do you remember about school when you were young?
- What did you enjoy doing/studying at school?
- Who were your friends in school?
- What are some of the activities you remember taking part in at school?
- Did you ever get into trouble and have to go to the principal’s office? If so, what behavior caused
your punishment?
- Tell of your education path from elementary school through college:
- What school activities and sports did you participate in?
- Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular music? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
- Did you have any pets when you were young? If so, what kind and what were their names?
- What local, national, or world events affected you and your family when you were young?
- What types of food did your parent(s) prepare for meals when you were young?
- Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What
were your favorite foods?
- What holidays did your family celebrate when you were young?
- How did your family celebrate holidays when you were young?
- Describe a typical birthday party of yours when you were young:
- How is the world today different today from when you were a child?
- Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
- What do you know about your family surname? From what national did your surname originate?
- Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his
paternal grandfather?
- What stories about your parents, grandparents, or other ancestors, have been passed down to
you?
- Do you have famous relatives? Who, and what did they do to make them famous?
- Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
- Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
- Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down
in your family?
- What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?
- When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
- What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How
did you feel?
- Where and when did you get married?
- What do you remember about your wedding day?
- How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
- What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
- How did you find out you were going to be a parent for the first time?
- How did you feel when you found out you were going to have a child?
- Tell how you felt when each of your children were born:
- How did your choose your children’s names?
- As a parent, what activities do you enjoy watching your children participate in?
- What activities does your current family enjoy?
- What is your memory of a favorite vacation?
- What is your current work and when did it begin?
- What is your first choice for a career?
- What is one piece of advice you were told from your parent(s)?
- What accomplishments make you happy?
- What are a few things you want people to remember about you?
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