Going off topic is completely normal, and honestly, it's expected.
This is actually how memory works. Memories aren't stored in neat chapters in our minds. They're interconnected: one story triggers another, a smell leads to a place, a name unlocks a whole afternoon from forty years ago. When your loved one starts talking about the neighbour's dog when you asked about their favourite childhood meal, that's not a problem. That's just how remembering works.
Don't interrupt: let them meander
You're not conducting a formal interview. There's no deadline, no submission cut-off, and no reason to rush. Your job in that moment is simply to be there and listen.
If you try to steer someone back on track mid-story, you risk disrupting the whole experience. The meandering is often where the best moments live; the unexpected detail, the memory they didn't know they still had. Cutting it short can close a door that's hard to reopen.
If they've wandered quite far and you'd like to gently bring them back, try reintroducing the question in a slightly different way rather than interrupting. Something like "that reminds me, you were saying earlier about..." can nudge the conversation back naturally without breaking the flow.
What happens to the parts that go off topic?
A few things, depending on what comes up.
Sometimes what sounds like a tangent turns out to be a story worth keeping, it might become its own Q&A page or a small moment woven into a chapter. Other times it's just background noise that gets quietly filtered out.
Either way, that's my job, not yours.
If you know there's been a lot of rambling
Use the notes field in your upload form. Something as simple as "we went off track a bit in the middle; the part about the neighbour's dog can be left out" is all I need. You don't have to timestamp it or edit anything yourself. Just flag it and I'll take care of the rest.
The short version
Follow the thread wherever it goes. The good stuff has a way of surfacing, even in the middle of a ramble.