If you could go back in time and sit down to speak with one ancestor, who would it be? Why? What would you ask them?

Who?

The one ancestor that I would love to talk to is my grandfather, Elmer.

Why?

God took Elmer to His heavenly home at the age of 44 years young. He would be 90 today. Elmer left behind a wife and four children. My mother was only 16 years old.

My grandmother did remarry some years later to the man I knew as Grandpa Ron. Ron was a wonderful and caring husband, father, and grandpa. I am lucky to be able to know my grandparents and even most of my great-grandparents. I still would have liked to know Grandpa Elmer.

Some people never knew their grandparents. My dad did not know most of his. I am a lucky woman to have known mine. My mother has told me stories of her father. I have seen pictures. He was a very handsome-looking man, if I do say so myself! Even though I know things about him, I would have like to have had a friendship with him. I would have loved to have memories with him.

The questions

What questions would you ask someone you never have met but are related to? Hmm. I am not sure what questions I would ask if I am frank. My biggest thing is I want to know him. I want to hear his laugh, his life stories, and to feel his love.

As a genealogist, I would ask him questions about his life. My grandfather fought in the Korean War. If he wanted to answer, I would ask him what he did and what he experienced during that war. The only thing I know about that time is what I see in some pictures and from his discharge form. He looked young in the photos. He served before he got married, so he was young.

There are so many questions to ask an ancestor. I found two good sites that had many great questions found here and here. I found some great questions that I would like to know that I have not found answers to while researching my family history.

• Do you have any special memories of your grandparents?
• What important life lessons did you learn from your parents?
• What is your first/favorite childhood memory?
• Can you describe your childhood home?
• Did you have running water? If not, how did you get water?
• What kinds of foods did you eat often? (His mother was a great cook!)
• Where did your food come from? A grocery store, a nearby farm, or your family’s farm?
• What were your chores when you were little? Did they change as you got older?
• Can you describe what your daily life was like as a child?
• Did you go to school outside of the home, or were you home-schooled?
• What was your favorite part of school? Your least favorite?
• What were your goals, hopes, and dreams as a young adult?
• Were your parents strict or lenient?
• What do you want people to remember the most about you?
• What’s the best advice you can give your great-grandchildren, your great-great-grandchildren?
• What did you do in the military? Did you lose any friends?
• What was your favorite way to spend time with your children?

Answers

There are more questions that I would love to know. I want to know everything! I am not sure if I could think of any questions at the time. I would be so happy and over-whelmed with just meeting my grandfather.

I am looking back at all the questions I just wrote and thinking I do not want my grandchildren to wish that they would or could have asked me those questions. One of my goals now is that I am going to go through the many questions and write down answers. I want my descendants to know these questions. I hope that my descendants will want to know my answers.

The next time I visit my grandmother (my only living grandparent), I want to ask these questions. I wrote her a letter and asked some questions but never got an answer-back. She is 84 years old also, so I understand. My grandmother is probably going to bingo and visiting her friends when she can. Times are scary right now with Covid-19. She was sick and fighting for her life before Covid-19. She fought hard then and while having Covid-19 a year later. She is a fighter.

Stories

I want to answer the first question listed above. Do you have any special memories of your grandparents? I do have special memories of my grandparents.

I am not a great golfer. I am ok at miniature golf, but that is it. My Grandpa Ron and grandma played golf probably every week through the summer. They had women’s and men’s night at the golf club. I do not remember what the other one did while the one was at the club. Well, during the summer, my brother and I would spend at least one week at our grandparents’ house. Both sets lived in the same small town.

One summer that I remember, my Grandpa Ron took my brother and me to the golf course. Since Grandpa and Grandma golfed all the time, they owned a golf cart. My brother and I would go along not to golf but to ride the golf cart, and if we were lucky, Grandpa would allow us to drive. He would push the gas pedal as one of us would sit on his lap and steer the cart. One time I was steering the golf cart, and my brother, he had to be about 4 or 6 years old, was sitting beside us. Grandpa needed to go to the next hole or to wherever his ball had landed. We were driving along. I do not remember if I was talking to my brother or what I was doing, but I was not paying attention to where I was driving. The next thing I know, Grandpa said, “Watch out!”. When I turned around, I was about to drive over a tree sapling! I jerked the wheel quickly to the left. I missed the tree, but I had to go back and get my brother as he fell out of the right side of the cart. Grandpa said my turn was over for the day. I do not remember ever driving their cart again. I was just happy that he had let me have a turn at driving and that he was spending time with me.

There are many special moments with all my grandparents that I remember. Let me know of a memory that you have of an ancestor of yours. What questions would you ask your ancestors? Don’t forget to write down your memories for your descendants too.