Quote:
Originally posted by
bratcat
This is really hard one for me.
For sure my grandparents who live out of state whom i only get to see once a year, to talk with my grandfather about his time spent in France during WWII, freeing concentration camps, and his other travels during
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This is really hard one for me.
For sure my grandparents who live out of state whom i only get to see once a year, to talk with my grandfather about his time spent in France during WWII, freeing concentration camps, and his other travels during that time. It's something i never got to spend much time talking about when i was very young, but now that im older and realize the importance of everything he did during that time and knowing he doesnt have much time left, i'd like to know more about it.
I thinking learning more about my Grandmothers time coming to the US is also very interesting as well and something i'd like to know more about, but there is a large language barrier, so when i see her (i see her more often as she lives close) communication is kind of hard and i only get bits and pieces of stories.
There are some personal idols i would LOVE to spend 15 minutes with, even if it's just for a short interview; like some of the women from my favorite bands (which is actually a big reality for me, as the lead singer from my favorite band knows who i am by this point, and im friends with a lot of my favorite bands), some of my internet friends i have yet to meet and of course Harrison Ford.
If it was someone no longer living, i think i'd have to go with frida kahlo as she's one of my biggest laint@ influences and she's an all over interesting person i'd like to just sit and talk with.
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I try not to pick favorites, but this reply is really great! I hope you can find a way to get both grandparents to maybe record their experiences & you can go over them later, just something to get as much info from them as possible before you can't. As for the language barrier, have her either write or record in her native language, you can easily have soemone translate for you later on! PLEASE don't lose this opportunity, I think you already realize how you will regret it! My uncle, unbeknownst to us, was corresponding with the last of my grandma's siblings & she was telling him all her memories of growing up in Europe & their move to the US, everything she knew about the family history etc. When we had a family reunion last Summer, he gave each of us a copy of the history he compiled, in her words, from all the letters she sent over the years. He must have taken years to go through & organize all of it. But, it was so interesting to find out all this stuff we didn't know about! To think I wouldn't know about it, just breaks my heart!
Your grandpa did some of the most important & horrifying work of that war, he was a witness that time is trying to silence, as are many kooks! He can give a voice to all those who suffered such atrocities, just by having been a witness at the end. You could even hire a high school or college kid to interview him, maybe just ask questions you prepared for them & let them record what he says. Or you just send the questions to him & let him write or just record on a cassette tape his thoughts.You probably already thought of these things, but I just want to encourage you, especially with you interest in they human psyche, to explore this. Who knows, you may publish a book about it later, when you are renown in your own field - lots of scholars surprise us with something they studied outside their known expertise.
I think it's great you are known by the bands you love, that's so cool, what an awesome fan you are! And choosing Frida tells me a lot about YOU! I just like you more & more, the more I find out!