FREE KIT · CHRISTMAS

Ask them this Christmas.

30 questions to ask grandparents and family at the table, a simple way to record the answers on your phone, and a prompt that turns your notes into a memory page you keep.

The questions

CHILDHOOD

  1. 1.What did the end of the year look like in your house when you were ten?
  2. 2.Who was the first friend you remember?
  3. 3.What did your home smell like?
  4. 4.What were you told off for most?
  5. 5.What did you want to be when you grew up?

WORK AND MONEY

  1. 6.What was your first job, and what did it pay?
  2. 7.What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
  3. 8.Who taught you the most at work?
  4. 9.What job would you choose if you could start again?
  5. 10.What did things cost when you started out?

LOVE AND FAMILY

  1. 11.How did you two meet? Who spoke first?
  2. 12.What do you remember about your wedding day?
  3. 13.What do you remember about the day your first child was born?
  4. 14.Who in the family were you closest to growing up?
  5. 15.Which family tradition did you start?

FOOD AND HOME

  1. 16.What dish does nobody make the way you used to?
  2. 17.Who taught you to cook, and what was the first thing you made?
  3. 18.What did a special-occasion meal look like?
  4. 19.Which recipe should we write down before it is lost?
  5. 20.What did you eat when money was tight?

TURNING POINTS

  1. 21.Which year changed everything for you?
  2. 22.Where were you when you heard news you still remember?
  3. 23.What was the hardest move you ever made?
  4. 24.What is the bravest thing you have done?
  5. 25.What did you learn too late?

FOR US

  1. 26.What do you want us to remember that we never ask about?
  2. 27.What are you proudest of?
  3. 28.What do you hope we keep doing as a family?
  4. 29.Is there a story you have never told us?
  5. 30.What would you say to yourself at our age?

Ask in their language

Your own assistant translates the questions. Ask a fluent relative to check the wording before the day.

Pick a language to get a translation prompt.

How to record it

  1. 1

    Ask first. Say what you are recording and why, and that they can say no or ask you to stop at any time.

  2. 2

    Use the voice recorder that came with your phone. Put it face down on the table, near the person speaking. Turn on Do Not Disturb.

  3. 3

    One question, then listen. Follow the story, not the list. "What happened next?" does more work than any clever question.

  4. 4

    Write it up the same week, while you still remember who was who.

Turn your notes into a memory page

Here are my notes from talking with my relative this Christmas. Write a one-page memory in English, in their own words wherever I quoted them. Keep every name, place and date exactly as I wrote it. Do not add anything I did not say. Mark anything you are unsure of with [check]. Notes: [paste your notes here]

Keep it somewhere it will not get lost.

Save the memory page as a document in AI Twin. It stays yours, and you can export or delete it at any time.

Start your Twin

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Questions people ask

Not affiliated with OpenAI or Anthropic.

Questions to ask this Christmas

CHILDHOOD

  1. 1. What did the end of the year look like in your house when you were ten?
  2. 2. Who was the first friend you remember?
  3. 3. What did your home smell like?
  4. 4. What were you told off for most?
  5. 5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

WORK AND MONEY

  1. 6. What was your first job, and what did it pay?
  2. 7. What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
  3. 8. Who taught you the most at work?
  4. 9. What job would you choose if you could start again?
  5. 10. What did things cost when you started out?

LOVE AND FAMILY

  1. 11. How did you two meet? Who spoke first?
  2. 12. What do you remember about your wedding day?
  3. 13. What do you remember about the day your first child was born?
  4. 14. Who in the family were you closest to growing up?
  5. 15. Which family tradition did you start?

FOOD AND HOME

  1. 16. What dish does nobody make the way you used to?
  2. 17. Who taught you to cook, and what was the first thing you made?
  3. 18. What did a special-occasion meal look like?
  4. 19. Which recipe should we write down before it is lost?
  5. 20. What did you eat when money was tight?

TURNING POINTS

  1. 21. Which year changed everything for you?
  2. 22. Where were you when you heard news you still remember?
  3. 23. What was the hardest move you ever made?
  4. 24. What is the bravest thing you have done?
  5. 25. What did you learn too late?

FOR US

  1. 26. What do you want us to remember that we never ask about?
  2. 27. What are you proudest of?
  3. 28. What do you hope we keep doing as a family?
  4. 29. Is there a story you have never told us?
  5. 30. What would you say to yourself at our age?