As I begin to read Chapter 3 of Like it Was: A Complete Guide to Writing Oral History, the first few pages talks about "Who" you are going to interview. The author presented an example of a 80 year old woman who was interviewed at a time when she could remember her stories. These few paragraphs immediately brought me back to my own personal experience with oral history.
When I was around eight or nine years old my Pop Pop would come to stay at my house from North Jersey during the summer for a few weeks to enjoy the "Jersey Shore". Every morning he would conduct his routine of waking up, having a cup of tea and going outside with a pack of cigarettes and newspaper in hand. He would stay outside the entire day reading the newspaper cover to cover. He always said "This is how you get educated".
Anyway, being a curious and annoying granddaughter I used to interrupt his reading every morning and talk to him when one day I decided to ask about when he was my age. He told me about how it was like to grow up in Belfast, Ireland during a time when homes all around him were getting bombed and he had to protect his younger sisters. One story turned into another story until I found myself writing down everything he said. I documented the stories from when he was born, the death of his younger sister, to meeting my Granny out dancing, to traveling to Canada alone and then finally to the United States where he began to build a life for his family.
This past October 28,2010 he passed away from Alzheimer's Disease and that night I tore apart my desk hoping to find the handwriting of my eight year old self. It was no where to be found and that's when I wanted to read it the most. I would never hear those stories from him again. There are simply a faint memory between him and I.