What should I ask my dad before it's too late?

Ask about the parts of his life you were not there for: his own parents, his first job, the decisions he is proud of, and what he wants his grandchildren to know.

My dad doesn't like talking about himself. What then?

Written questions work better than a face-to-face interview for many fathers. Send a few at a time and let him answer when he is alone.

How do I keep his answers?

Go Family Story emails him three questions a week by private link and stores every answer, photo and voice recording in one private archive you control.

Questions to ask your dad

Fathers often tell the same three stories and keep the rest. These questions go past the familiar ones — the work, the fears, the choices he made before you were born — without turning the conversation into an interrogation.

Questions to ask your dad about his own life

Ask these of him directly. Each one can be answered in a few sentences, which is usually how a longer conversation starts.

1.What was your own father like with you?
2.What kind of man were you before you had children?
3.What are you still stubborn about?
4.What did you imagine your life would be at twenty?
5.How did you find out you were going to be a father?
6.What went through your head that day?
7.What do you let people believe because it is simpler?
8.What were you like as a young father — honestly?
9.What were you doing for work then, and what was it like?
10.How did you provide for us, and what did it cost you?
11.Where were you born, and what was that place like?
12.What did you worry about that you never said out loud?
13.What did you find hardest about being our father?
14.What did your father teach you that you kept?
15.What did you and your brothers or sisters get up to?
16.What did he teach you that you decided not to pass on?
17.What did you do for us that we never noticed?
18.What were you proudest of in the way you raised us?
19.What was your first day of school like?
20.What would you do differently if you had the chance?
21.What did you learn too late?
22.What was your own home like when you were a boy?
23.Who did you look up to as a young adult?
24.What did your father do that you swore you would never do?
25.What did he do that you ended up doing anyway?
26.What were you like at school, honestly?
27.What has been hardest about loving someone for a long time?
28.What was your first job like, and who taught you it?
29.What did you dream about doing instead?
30.How did you meet Mum, and what did you think of her then?
31.What were you good at that nobody noticed?
32.What did the first years of marriage teach you?
33.What was the hardest year of your working life?
34.What did a normal working day look like for you?
35.What was the hardest year of your life?
36.What did you fix, build or keep running at home?
37.What did you drive, and what happened in that car?
38.How did you handle money when things were tight?
39.What song takes you straight back somewhere?
40.What did you never let us see you worry about?
41.Which friend did you rely on most?
42.What did you and Mum argue about, and how did it end?
43.What has made you cry with happiness?
44.What did you love about being married, and what was hard?
45.What did you do on your own time?

Turn these questions into a gift they'll keep

We send the questions for you. They answer free from their inbox, and every answer, photo and recording is gathered into one private archive — kept on a highly secure database, and downloadable by you at any time.

Start free — no card needed

Questions to answer about your dad

These are for you and for everyone else who knows him. What he taught, what he repeated, what he quietly did — those are the parts he will never tell you himself.

46.What is he like as a father, day to day?
47.What did he do with you that was just yours together?
48.What do they do when they walk into a room full of strangers?
49.How did you know when he was proud of you?
50.How did you know when he was angry?
51.What did he say when you got something wrong?
52.What are they hopeless at, and do they know it?
53.What was his work, and how did it shape the family?
54.What does he build, fix or refuse to throw away?
55.What did he drive, and what was it like being in that car with him?
56.What bring you back?
57.What does he teach you that you still use?
58.What does he find hard to say?
59.What does he do quietly for people?
60.What is their idea of a waste of time?
61.How is he at the table, at Christmas, on holiday?
62.What does he watch, follow or shout at?
63.What does he think about money, work and getting by?
64.What do they quote?
65.When did you first see him as a person and not just your father?

Collect the answers in one place

Go Family Story sends three of these questions a week by private link. The person answers with a free account, and every answer, photo, video and voice recording is kept in one private archive that only your family can see.

Start free — no card needed See the plans

Paid once — $59
30-day money-back guarantee
Family helps free

Giving it for Christmas? Start by November so there are answers to give on Christmas morning.

Common questions

What should I ask my dad before it's too late?: Ask about the parts of his life you were not there for: his own parents, his first job, the decisions he is proud of, and what he wants his grandchildren to know.
My dad doesn't like talking about himself. What then?: Written questions work better than a face-to-face interview for many fathers. Send a few at a time and let him answer when he is alone.
How do I keep his answers?: Go Family Story emails him three questions a week by private link and stores every answer, photo and voice recording in one private archive you control.