My biggest Challenge yet ..... help me on how can I improve my memoir

rebuilding relationship with father

As a child, I believed that my father was my hero, the first man who would embrace and love me regardless of my flaws. He was a hero to me. He spends most of his time away from us to provide us with a brighter future. In everything I do, I do it to make him and mama proud. I thought our life was perfect, that is, my father was the best, but everything changed in an instant when I found out about my father's infidelity.

Days before my mom's birthday, I found out that my father was having an affair with his first love. That revelation shattered me, my sister but most especially my mom. After that, life was not as exciting and happy as I remember it was. I wake up every day feeling unworthy, knowing that the first man I ever loved might abandon us. There are times when I don't even want to talk to my friends. I never told anyone about this because I didn't want to be a burden to anyone. I was scared that they might see my father the wrong way; he's still my father after all. I once thought that I was not good at anything, but now I realize that I'm good at hiding the pain I'm feeling. What broke me was seeing my mother doing her best to smile despite the heartbreak. My admiration and love for my mother have grown as I observe how she keeps her head up and fights through the pain for my sister and me while bearing the most brutal pain of her life. In the end, my father asked for our forgiveness which we all accepted, hoping that he would change not just for us but for himself. I'm hoping that he will become a better father, especially the best husband that my mama deserves.

As I was writing this memoir, I recalled a conversation with a friend long ago. She asked about the most challenging situation in my life. I told her that God had not given me one because he knew I couldn't handle it, but now I realize God gave me one because he knows I can take it. Sometimes, I would still cry alone at night and get reminded about that moment, but I'm slowly rebuilding my relationship with my father, myself, and God. Right now, I don't care about the reason it happened and choose to enjoy the moment and be grateful for the things I have, especially my mom and my sister

The writer keeps confusing the timeline of his memoir presentation. He cannot make up his mind as to whether to present this in present or past tense. Since this is a memoir, it is reflection of the writer based on past events. The keyword being "past". So the time references in the essay need to be in past form. The iconcistent time reference is what is most irritating about this memoir. The writer needs to realize that a memoir is based on "memories" and therefore, must be highlighted in presentation from a hindsight look.

As this should be a balanced memoir, the writer should focus on presenting an aspect of how the father's relationship with his children changed as well. Not just from the fear of the children, but from the actual interaction with him to help depict how the family dynamic truly changed for them. That includes how the sister reacted and how that relationship changed between her and their father, and between the siblings as well.