Grandparents repeat the stories that mattered most to them. Listen the third time too.

Repetition is a sorting mechanism. Out of eighty years, the stories somebody tells again and again are the ones that shaped them, so you are handed a short list of what their life meant. The boredom you feel is about the retelling and not the content. The third hearing is usually where the details you missed arrive.

Let the next repeat run this week without finishing it for them or looking at your phone. Ask one new question inside the familiar story: how old were you, what happened to that person afterwards. Record a few minutes with their permission if you can, because those recordings cost nothing now.