“Grandpa, Tell Me about the Olden Days”

“What is the craziest thing you remember doing as a kid?” This question had Grandpa Dalton telling a hilarious story of how he had to hang a cow with a broken leg from a sling in a tree—for a month!—while the leg healed. That was just one of the memorable moments that came from our “Getting to Know Your Grandparents” night.

I planned the event because I wanted my children to learn more about their grandparents’ lives. One Monday, for family home evening, we invited both sets of grandparents to our house for dinner. After we ate, we all gathered in the family room and our children asked their grandparents questions about their growing-up years. I made up a list of sample questions to stimulate their thinking; for example, What do you remember about your grandparents? Do you remember riding in a wagon drawn by horses?

We also looked at old photographs I had asked the grandparents to bring; this let us see some of the people they talked about as well as some of the events.

We concluded the evening by taking pictures of everyone in different groupings. We also recorded the event on an audiocassette to add to our family history.—Jonna D. Fife, Gridley, California