How to Write a Memoir

At this moment, the document I should be attending to is titled “Draft 7 — Maria Memoir.” Why do I call it “Maria memoir” when my name is Laura?

In 2015, I became a de facto “foster mom” to a teenage asylum seeker from Guatemala. Maria, a resilient, tender, and whip-smart young woman, came to the U.S. in 2014, one child among the thousands who were collectively referred to as “a surge of unaccompanied minors.” She crossed the border — without papers — to escape violent gangs who had already targeted her. By 2018, with the scaffolding of a caring and talented pro bono legal team, therapist…