| Following are some questions which may elicit longer conversations or stories from whoever it is you need to talk with in order to get your story of Mother. You could ask these questions of yourself about your own mother, or you could ask them of your mother or your aunt or uncle about your grandmother. You could ask them of a friend about her mother or grandmother. Think of these questions as a starter interview to find out about someone's mother. You might want to take a selected set from this list of questions and use them as a guide for all the siblings of a family to answer in their own way about the mother they share. The differing memories and perspectives concerning the same person may surprise you. Also, don't try to stick too closely to each question; they each have many more possibilities. For instance, in #2, maybe the person you interview will remember several gifts, or a gift his mother gave to someone else. Be loose, and be interested. |
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Interview Questions
1. When you think of your mother, is there a certain place or situation that you think of first? 2. Do you remember a specific gift your mother gave you? That you gave her? 3. What was your mother's attitude about gifts in general? Were handmade gifts valued more than bought gifts, or the other way around? Maybe it wasn't whether handmade or not, but the careful choosing to suit the receiver of the gift? 4. Can you describe a typical (or untypical) Christmas when you were a child? What things did your mother do? What parts of the holiday were important to her? Were there other holidays which she liked as much or better? 5. What were birthday celebrations like when you were a child? 6. Did your mother like to read? What sort of things did she prefer, if she did? 7. If she ever had time to herself, what did your mother like to do? 8. Was your mother a member of a church? Was this very important to her? 9. Did she love music in any special way? Did she sing in a choir, or play an instrument? 10. Did she tell you stories of her own childhood? Do you remember any of them? 11. How did your mother wear her hair? Do you remember more than one style over the years? What color was her hair? Did she ever wear hats? 12. Do you remember any particular outfit she sometimes wore? Any jewelry or other ornaments she owned? 13. What were the things she was the most strict about with her children? 14. Did your mother help you with schoolwork? 15. Did she like to cook? Was she particularly known for some dish or other? 16. Did she make quilts? Any other kinds of sewing, or knitting, or crochet? Do you remember specific things she made? Do you have any of them? 17. Did your mother have any special affection for animals? Did she love birds, or cats, or did she not care much one way or the other about animals? 18. Do you remember if she was afraid of something in particular? 19. Do you have any photos or drawings of her? Do you have anything that belonged to her? How long has it been since you looked at it? 20. Did your mother do any other kinds of work besides taking care of the family and house? Was it in addition to the family, or did she have some help with household demands? 21. Was your mother close to her sisters? Her mother? Did she have any really good friends? 22. Where did she grow up? How many brothers and sisters altogether? 23. Do you remember her as tall or short? As slender, round, or medium? 24. Do you know how your mother and father met? 25. Do you know if she wore a traditional wedding gown when she married? 26. Did your mother like games of any kind? Playing cards, or sports, or something else? 27. What kind of house did you live in as a child? Can you describe it? |
