Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

Looking for something to do during COVID-19? Enjoy writing? Here is an idea!

How about taking time to write about your childhood and growing up so your children and grandchildren can read about your life. Grab a pen and a notebook and something to drink and start recording your life story.

Where do you start? Here are some interview questions that you can answer and write about.

Where were you born, what date, what day of the week? Did your parents share anything about your birth? Were you named after someone special or a member of your family?

Tell me about your parents, where they were born, when and where?

What did your parents do to earn money?

Did you live in the city or in the country? What do you remember about the house or houses that you lived in?

Did you have any pets growing up? Tell me about your childhood? Holidays, gifts you got, schools you went to, etc.

What did you do after you left home? Where did you meet that special someone?

Did you date, get married, share the details. What was your first job?

You get the idea, the beauty of this is you can share as much or as little as you want. Your kids will love this and plus it will be in your handwriting. You can also use the computer if you want.

Other suggestions

So maybe writing is not your thing, but you like the idea of sharing about your childhood and growing up. How about a video recording, some feel this is a great option because not only is your family hearing about your past, but they also are able to see you, hear your voice and see your wonderful smile.

You may need some help with this. First you will need to locate a video camera/DVD recorder that could be used and then find a well-lit place in your home or outside if it is nice. Second, come up with some questions or have your kids or grandkids come up with the questions that you could answer regarding your childhood. The great thing about this is it could be done in one session or multiple sessions depending on how many questions that there are to answer. There could be very thought-provoking questions and very silly questions. The key to this is to be yourself because you are who your family wants to remember.

What I would give to have a DVD or a video of my Grandmother and Grandfather sharing about their lives individually and as a couple. This will not be for everybody, but some of your loved ones may really appreciate seeing your beautiful smile and hearing your incredible laugh.

For more information contact Mark Bowers, program director for the Fountain Valley Senior Center, at 719-600-2644.