Someone on a mailing list posted the question, if you could speak to two ancestors and ask them a question who would you ask and what would you ask them?
Most of us have the opportunity to talk to relatives and ask those questions. Talk to everyone in your family and if possible close family friends.
My mother told me a lot more about my Dad's family than he has. As a kid, my sister hung around with grandma a lot more than I did so she knows more about those aunts, uncles, and cousins than I knew.
Some of the stories grandpa told have a lot a fact in them, places he lived, jobs he worked at, give life to this hobby and also clues to look for other family members.
My father-in-law wrote down for me as much as he could remember about his family just because I asked him. He has no interest in genealogy but was happy to talk about his family. Boy was he surprised when I told him about his aunt who had died young. He never knew that his dad had a sister that died young. I was able to make that find based on information he gave me.
Looking at my family what amazes me is that I actually spoke (more than once) to someone that was born in 1865. That means I can connect to someone who lived 138 years ago. I wish I had asked her who her parents were.
