I started writing down one thing my grandma says every Sunday, and after 4 months I have 18 pages of stuff nobody else in my family knows

Betty Wells · 2026-09-24T07:55:04.004972+00:00

My grandma is 89 and lives in a little house in Fresno, and about 4 months ago I started bringing a cheap spiral notebook when I visit her on Sundays. I used to just nod along when she talked, but now I write down the stories, like how she met my grandpa at a dance hall in 1955 and the name of the neighbor who taught her to make tamales. In 18 pages I have stuff my mom and my uncles have never heard, and when I read a few lines to my mom she got quiet and asked me to make her a copy. It hit me that all of this was floating around in one person's head and would have just been gone one day. Does anyone else do this with an older relative, and if so how do you keep them talking without making it feel like an interview?

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I started writing down one thing my grandma says every Sunday, and after 4 months I have 18 pages of stuff nobody else in my family knows | Before I Forget - Thought Shares