For my family sometimes the best conversations happen when we’re not trying so hard to have one. You know those moments when someone asks a simple question and suddenly everybody has something to say?
Someone remembers a story. Someone else says, “I forgot about that!” Before you know it, you’re laughing, telling stories, and remembering things you haven’t thought about in years. Those are the questions that make us go home.
Not necessarily questions that require an answer. Sometimes they’re questions that take us back to a place, a person, a meal, a holiday, a childhood memory, or simply a time when life felt a little different.
A question could be What Was Your Favorite Meal Growing Up? Was it something your mom made? Something your grandmother cooked? Maybe it wasn’t anything fancy at all. Maybe it was grilled cheese and tomato soup, a bowl of cereal before bed, or something you only got on Sundays. Food has a funny way of carrying memories with it. One bite can take you right back to your childhood kitchen.
Another question I like to ask is what did we do before Cell Phones? This is one of my favorite questions because today’s children can’t always imagine a world where you couldn’t simply text someone and ask where they were.
We had to call the house. We had to leave a message. Or—and this may sound completely unbelievable—we actually had to go find our friends. We rode our bikes, walked down the street, knocked on doors, and sometimes just wandered outside until we found somebody.
What did you do? Who Was Your Best Friend Growing Up? Maybe you still know them. Maybe you lost touch years ago. Maybe you can still remember exactly where they lived, what they looked like, or the silly things you used to do together. And sometimes answering this question makes you realize just how much life has changed.
What Is Something You Wish You Could Do One More Time? Maybe it’s sitting around your grandparents’ kitchen table. Maybe it’s Christmas morning. Maybe it’s going fishing with your dad.
Maybe it’s having your children all little again and hearing their feet running through the house. There are some moments we can’t recreate. But remembering them gives us a chance to visit them again.
What Made You Laugh Until Your Stomach Hurt? Every family has those stories. The kind that gets told over and over. Someone says one sentence and everybody already knows what story is coming next.
Those stories are family treasures. They may not seem important when they happen, but years later they’re the stories that keep people connected and that is what keeps our children connected to the past.
And That’s the Point Maybe we should ask more questions that don’t have anything to do with schedules, bills, errands, homework, work, or what needs to be done next. Maybe we should ask questions that make people stop.
Questions that make grandparents remember. Questions that make parents tell stories. Questions that make children curious about what life was like before they were born. Questions that make us laugh. Questions that sometimes make us cry. And questions that make us go home.
Because sometimes home isn’t just a place. Sometimes home is a memory. So here’s today’s question: What is one question someone could ask you that would immediately take you back to a favorite memory? Tell us your answer. Maybe your story will remind someone else of theirs.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates