Recording and storage tech are unbelievably cheap nowadays. I would suggest finding audio and/or video recording systems to just get the information stored with

Recording and storage tech are unbelievably cheap nowadays. I would suggest finding audio and/or video recording systems to just get the information stored with a minimum of effort (whatever works: recorded conversations, solo dictation, etc). Absolutely; I think everyone with living parents or grandparents should do this....even if you don't think they have particularly interesting stories to tell. When they're gone, it's too late. Back in the 80s, as a high school assignment, I (audio) taped an interview with my great-uncle, who had been on the USS Liscome Bay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liscome_Bay_(CVE-56) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liscome_Bay_(CVE-56)) when it was torpedoed during WW2. It was an interesting story, and I did well on the assignment, but put the tape in a box and forgot about it for a long, long time. Some years back, I came across the tape and thought that I should convert it to MP3 while I still had the means. By this time, my great-uncle had been gone for a dozen years, and it was fantastic to hear his voice again. The real bonus was that my great aunt, who had passed twenty years prior, had been inadvertently captured talking on the tape.