Why I Started Writing a Memoir

One of my goals this year is to write a book. 

But to be honest, writing a book doesn't feel like a priority right now because it doesn't feel time-sensitive.  At this point in my life, writing a book feels more like a "nice to do" rather than a "need to do." But that's precisely why I've decided to start working on my book now. Because let's say I don't prioritize writing my stories this year, next year, or even this decade. What happens then? For starters, the memories that are already starting to fade, will they still be available to me ten years from now?

I've always prided myself on having an exceptional memory, but once I hit peri-menopause, that quickly changed. Maybe the fading memories will resurface once I've gone through menopause, but that's not something I'm willing to take a chance on. They say there's no time like the present, and while that quote isn't enough to motivate me on most days, it just makes practical sense to write my first book now. 

I'm writing this book for my daughter, Margaret, because I want her to feel as though she really knows who I am as a person, especially who I was before I became her mom. I've decided to write this memoir in a conversational style so that one day when I'm not there, she can read through it to feel closer to me. Margaret doesn't have any siblings, and I'm not sure I would be writing this book if she did. The stories I plan to share are mainly from my life before I met her father and our stories as a couple before she came into our lives. 

You can write more than one memoir in your lifetime, so this book is not about our family life. Margaret will have her own memories of the time we shared—this book is about everything that came before.