Tips for interviewing Aunt Mabel

Interview older members of the family every chance you get. Lots -- most -- of the color of your family's story comes from how they felt about things they experienced.

Try to audio-record the interview somehow; you can take notes as Aunt Mabel talks, but it's slow. It also discourages Aunt Mabel if she's telling her favorite story about how Elvis autographed her poodle skirt and you're staring at your notebook the whole time.

To help Aunt Mabel relax, start with some easy-to-answer questions about facts: Where were you born? What's your birthday? What are your parents' names and where did they come from?

Then you can move into the story-inducing questions: How did your family celebrate birthdays when you were a kid? What games did you play during recess at school? When did you first vote and who did you vote for? Why?

Encourage Aunt Mabel by making eye contact, leaning forward, nodding and reacting appropriately to what she says. The more interested you are, the more willing she is to talk.