Chapter 1 of 10
Roots & beginnings
the world you were born into, before you knew anything else.
№ 01
“What's the earliest memory you can still reach back to?”
№ 02
“What did your childhood home sound like at dinner?”
№ 03
“What did your childhood home smell like when you walked in?”
№ 04
“Where in your childhood home did you most like to be alone?”
№ 05
“Describe the street, lane, or landscape where you grew up.”
№ 06
“What was a typical Sunday like when you were a child?”
№ 07
“Who in your family was known for telling the same story over and over?”
№ 08
“Was there a family member everyone has a story about — the character, the rogue, the kindly one?”
№ 09
“What did your parents (or whoever raised you) do for work?”
№ 10
“What did money look like in your childhood — present, absent, talked about, never talked about?”
№ 11
“What was your relationship with your grandparents — if you knew them?”
№ 12
“Who was your first best friend?”
№ 13
“What was your first school like on the first day?”
№ 14
“What was a punishment in your house — and what was a reward?”
№ 15
“Was there a teacher, in any of your early years, whose attention made a difference?”
№ 16
“What were you afraid of as a child?”
№ 17
“What did your family do — or not do — at Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah, or whichever holiday loomed largest?”
№ 18
“What was the family rule no one ever wrote down but everyone knew?”
№ 19
“What's a meal from childhood you still think about?”
№ 20
“Did you have a pet as a child, and what did they teach you?”
№ 21
“What did Saturday mornings look like in your house?”
№ 22
“Was there a place — not your own home — that felt magical to you as a child?”
№ 23
“Was there a moment in childhood when you saw your parents as separate people, not just your parents?”
№ 24
“What did you read, watch, or listen to over and over as a child?”
№ 25
“Was there a sibling or close cousin who you measured yourself against?”
№ 26
“What story did your family tell about *you* as a child?”
№ 27
“What did a typical row in your house sound like?”
№ 28
“Was there an illness, injury, or scare in your family that everyone remembers?”
№ 29
“What was a chore or responsibility you were given young, and how did you feel about it?”
№ 30
“If you could send a single message back to the child you were — small, specific, kind — what would it be?”
№ 31
“What was the climate of your family, growing up — warm, formal, chaotic, watchful, something else?”
№ 32
“What were the deepest lessons your family taught you about being a person — said or unsaid?”