Quote Originally Posted by Alan H View Post
If you have a Jean I heartily recommend that you spent a pile of time with that person and ask questions, because they are a gold mine of memories, and when they're gone, they're GONE. Get out the pictures, dig up the old keepsakes, and ASK QUESTIONS.

Alan
Hear, hear, Alan!
You're spot on with this; growing up, I alway felt I'd have plenty of time to talk-up "the olden days" with my parents, but kidney failure & a sudden brain tumor took them from me before I was 28, and with the elder branches of the "trees" behind them long gone, many questions went forever unanswered, many vital things unshared.
So YES, call, talk, ask, make the time!
Find those old photos, track 'em down, share them, make copies and take more! On the topic of photos, don't just limit them to the elders, either; as I've mentioned elsewhere, my beloved daughter departed us this summer @ 25, and among our many profound regrets is that we had let her "escape" most of the family photos in the past year or so; even if you have relatives who are "camera shy", impress on them your legitimate desire for pictures as part of the living record of the people you hold dear . . if you need to, be a pest, even!