Writing a Memoir With My Daughter

By Carol Weis

My daughter was five when I got sober. Her dad left four months later. It was a difficult time for us, one that I processed by writing, something I’d never done before. It started with primitive poetry, like a 4th grader might scrawl. But it helped move me through some of my grief. Feelings I didn’t want to take out on my only child.

Fast forward 10 years. And this will come as no surprise—this child, who sat on my lap until she was 14, was now in high school and wanted li...