Conversation Kit: Question #12
If you asked me this one, I’d talk about my grandfather’s love of a home-cooked meal.
Hello, and welcome back to Conversation Kit, where I share tried-and-true questions for meaningful conversation.
Here’s this week’s question: What values have you inherited from your ancestors?
Why I love this prompt: Just as we’ve inherited certain physical traits from our ancestors (our hair color, eye color, the shape of our nose), we’ve also inherited certain values from them. It’s fun to trace where those values come from and how they are still being passed down today.
This came up in my interview with a woman named Zola. She grew up on a farm, and her parents had to be thrifty and resourceful to make ends meet. She shared one story about her father that especially stood out to me:
My father was born in Oklahoma and he was the fourth child out of about 13. When it came to a certain age, which was not about 15 years old, his father would say to him, "It's time for you to go. You are on your own now." So he left and one of his brothers said he wanted to go with him. And so the dad said, "That's all right. You just take care of him." And they went down to the railroad tracks and hopped on. When the train slowed down or stopped for just a little bit, they'd hop up in a box car and that's how they got their transportation. It's very different, that they would be trusted as young boys. And the dad just said, "Watch out for your brother." And that's what he did. They went to California where they would pick fruit, and then part of their fruit was their pay for picking. And then they [went] around knocking on doors and selling fruit.
Can you imagine being sent out into the world at 15 years old? Times have certainly changed.
She went on to talk about how her mother sewed all their clothes and instilled in her the importance of self-reliance. So later in life, Zola taught that to her kids, and her lessons continue to affect the rising generation.
We have one of our grandchildren that somebody else has said to him, where did you learn to be thrifty? And he said, “From my grandma.”
Try this question in your next conversation, and let me know how it goes!
Spontaneous conversations are great, but I also believe that recording those stories strengthens ties across generations. I started Story-Wright to apply my audio journalism skills to your personal history so that you can tell your story in your voice to your posterity. I can meet in-person in Southern California, or record remotely!
If you’re interested in scheduling an interview, click the button below. Right now you can get $50 off your next package if you refer a friend or book multiple interviews for your loved ones!