Calling forth memories is easiest when something inside you is awakened. Visiting your childhood home, looking through a family photo album, or making your grandmother’s famous biscuits can unveil long forgotten feelings and events.

Sometimes all it takes is reading a word—a person’s name (Louis Armstrong), a product (Pop-Tarts), an event (Watergate), or a place (Cuba)—for you to recall a past event or a pronounced emotion.

Go to the Memory Lane link on the menu bar to find links to the last nine decades. As memories surface and as you ask questions such as those listed below, your own timeline will take shape. This selective assortment of items can hardly capture what the past means to you—but your stories can.

• What effect did a particular invention have on your family?
• What music, movies, and TV series do you associate with your childhood? How were they meaningful to you?
• How has your attitude about a political event changed over time?
• What do you want your children or grandchildren to understand about how your childhood was different from theirs?
• What about the past are you nostalgic for?
• What are you relieved has changed?
• What are your favorite movies, foods, and artists from each decade? How have your tastes changed?
• What about your past do you think your grandchildren have a hard time understanding? How could you help them?