Extra Prompts

Long-term memories, especially from childhood and early adulthood, are often the last to fade. These prompts are designed to gently reach them.

• What do you remember about the house you grew up in?
• What did your mother or father look like?
• What was your favourite meal as a child?
• Did you have a pet growing up?
• What did you do after school?
• Was there a song you loved when you were young?
• What was your first job?
• Who was your best friend growing up?
• What did summers feel like when you were little?
• Is there a place that always made you feel safe?

No eye contact, no pressure, nowhere to be. The car is one of the best places for stories to surface naturally.

• Where's the furthest you've ever travelled and what do you remember about it?
• What's the best road trip or long journey you've ever taken?
• Did your family go on holidays when you were young, where did you go?
• What did long car trips look like before there were screens?
• Was there a place you always wanted to visit but never did?
• What's something you saw once that you've never forgotten?
• Did you ever get completely lost somewhere, what happened?
• What's a place that meant a lot to you that you haven't been back to?
• If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would it be?
• What's the most unexpected place you've ever ended up?

Simple, curious, and genuinely interesting. These prompts work because grandchildren ask without any agenda. Just pure curiosity.

• What was school like when you were my age?
• What did you do for fun when you were a kid?
• What was your bedroom like growing up?
• Did you have a favourite toy or game?
• What did you want to be when you grew up?
• What was the funniest thing that ever happened to you as a child?
• What did you eat for breakfast when you were little?
• Did you ever get into trouble, what happened?
• What's something you could do as a kid that surprised people?
• What do you want me to remember about you when I grow up?

These prompts focus on what matters most: the love, the lessons, and the moments worth passing on.

• What are you most proud of in your life?
• What do you want the people you love to know about you?
• What's something you did that you hope someone remembers?
• Who has meant the most to you and why?
• What's the best decision you ever made?
• What do you hope your family carries forward?
• What made your life feel meaningful?
• Is there something you've never said out loud that you'd like to say now?
• What do you want people to remember about the way you lived?
• If you could leave one piece of advice for the people you love, what would it be?

The places we've lived and loved hold more memories than we realise. These prompts bring them back.

• What's the first home you remember and what did it feel like?
• Which place have you lived that felt most like home and why?
• Was there a neighbour or street you remember fondly?
• What could you see from your bedroom window growing up?
• Was there a place you went to be alone or feel at peace?
• What did your kitchen smell like when you were young?
• Is there a place you've had to leave that you still miss?
• What's a place that existed when you were young that isn't there anymore?
• Where did your family gather most, what do you remember about those times?
• If you could go back to one place from your past just for a day, where would it be?

What people did with their days, and why, often reveals the most about who they are.

• How did you end up in the work you did, was it planned or did it just happen?
• What was your very first job and what do you remember about it?
• Who was the most memorable person you ever worked with?
• What was the hardest day you can remember at work?
• What were you quietly proud of, even if nobody else noticed?
• Was there a moment where you had to make a difficult decision, what did you do?
• What did your work teach you about people?
• Was there something you wished you'd pursued but didn't?
• What did you spend most of your working life trying to get right?
• If you could give your younger working self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Service shapes a person in ways that are rarely spoken about. These prompts create space for those stories, at whatever depth feels comfortable.

• What made you decide to enlist and how old were you?
• What was the first thing you noticed when you arrived at training?
• Who did you serve alongside that you've never forgotten?
• What was a moment that surprised you, something you didn't expect?
• What did you miss most from home when you were away?
• Was there a place you were stationed that stayed with you?
• What did you do to keep your spirits up during hard times?
• What was the first thing you did when you came home?
• How did your service change the way you see the world?
• What do you want people to understand about that time in your life?

These prompts are for the people who loved them, gathered together to build a portrait of someone no longer here to tell their own story.

• What is your earliest memory of them?
• What did they look like when they were happy?
• What did they love most in life?
• What made them laugh?
• What's something they said that has stayed with you?
• What did they do that nobody ever properly thanked them for?
• What did they teach you without meaning to?
• What's a story about them that deserves to be remembered?
• What would they want the people who come after them to know?
• How did knowing them change you?

Your story is worth telling. These prompts are designed to help you find it, one memory at a time.

• What is the earliest memory you can access and what do you remember about it?
• What did the house you grew up in look like, smell like, feel like?
• Who was the most important person in your childhood and why?
• What did you want to be when you grew up, and what actually happened?
• What was the hardest period of your life and what got you through it?
• What's something you did that you've never properly told anyone about?
• What are you most proud of that nobody ever gave you credit for?
• What did you believe when you were young that turned out to be wrong?
• Who did you love and how did that shape who you became?
• What do you want the people who come after you to know about the life you lived?