My mom passed away in 1982 and my dad in 2002. I am fortunate in that I heard family stories all of my life. I have all of the official info re: birth dates, marriage dates, etc. from the old family Bible, other sources, and through these stories. There are only three family members from their generation left - my mom's brother and my dad's 2 first cousins. Now I ask them about family info -- not so much about the dates and stuff, but what my g-grandparents (their grandparents)were like as people. Recently I found out that my g-grandfather on my dad's side had a massive heart attack and dropped dead in the hen house after supper one Sunday night!
I wish I had asked more questions of the older generations to get some sense of us all as "family" My grandmother on Mom's side didn't even know her grandmother's first name -- I could tell her now that it was Julia.
And while cleaning out my parents' home I found a note book with recipes in it, handwritten by my maternal great-grandmother and with more added by my grandmother. It is now a prized possession.