Why Write a Memoir?

I remember my grandfather. As far as I know I am one of five people who do. When we are gone, his memory, his stories are gone with us.
Perhaps this is why writing memoirs is so popular. At some level we know that, no matter what religious or other beliefs we have, our memory here is fleeting and we want someone to remember we existed.
Before writing a memoir we need to have something worth writing about. No one is interested in a book about humdrum what-I ate-for-breakfast tweets. Some people are interested in how a wildlife preserve got started as is central to “Unexpected Treasure” by Hope Sawyer Buyukmihci or the many books by Gerald Durrell. Perhaps people travel or have some other interesting aspect to their lives. Most memoirs are written by older people who’ve had time to experience life.
Even factory work can be a good subject as such jobs have changed a lot over the years. I know a woman whose father was involved with the beginnings of the labor unions. She knows the stories. They are not written down. Another woman grew up when going to town was with horses for all day. Her stories too are now gone.
Family histories can pull a family together, remind members where they came from and who they are. They make relatives into real people who were once young with their lives stretching before them. Too often children are young and don’t listen. They are interested in what they are doing, not a distant past. Our culture too seems to not value the past, be it stories or heirlooms any more. And then the people are gone. It’s too late to listen to the stories or ask those questions.
The older I get, the more friends I lose, the more I wonder about writing down some of what I remember. Would anyone be interested? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Memories don’t have to be in memoirs. As a writer I draw upon my memories in my writing. The books are definitely not memoirs, but they include adapted incidents and emotions from my life.
And maybe that’s enough.