I never really set out to write a book about my children. I was just writing about them, the words they uttered, the things they did as they happened out of amusement. And yes, for our family’s memory.
For years, I wrote down the funny things my sons said, the questions they asked, the little adventures we had, and the daily and ordinary moments of raising them. They were just stories from our everyday life written in my journal, my Facebook and my blog posts. Those were words and moments that made me laugh, think, and want to remember.
While writing those, I didn’t even think of the future when those little boys whose words I was carefully recording would one day grow taller than me, and need me in different ways.
And I was not that forward-thinking to visualize that all those stories would eventually become a book.
Before we knew they were memories
Almost two decades after I started writing those anecdotes, Before We Knew They Were Memories came to be.
It is a collection of stories I wrote while raising my two sons. These are stories about motherhood, childhood, family, growing up, and all those seemingly insignificant moments that we would look back to with fondness.
Many of them began as little observations I wanted to save.
Something they did and said that I thought I would surely remember forever. But memory could be tricky. We think we will remember everything, and then they fade. And we grasp remembering those words and those moments. I guess the last to fade away would be how we felt during those moments. Our emotions don’t really fade easily. They just disconnect from actual dates, events, and places.
Writing became my way of keeping some of them. That’s why I call myself a keeper of memories.
Making the stories last
The desire to publish a book grew, especially with my husband consistently encouraging me. And I thought, why not the anecdotes I have lovingly written all these years? They were spontaneous, written as they happened.
So I started gathering the anecdotes in a file. I even found printed draft copies of the stories. The brittle papers were proof that some of them were already a decade old. But it wasn’t enough to make me move towards that goal.
And a few months before I turned 50 years old, a strong motivation kicked in. I wanted this milestone to be extra meaningful.
Why not make the desire to publish a reality?
My personal mission became my way of preserving and saying to my husband and sons: This was our life. These things happened. You said this. We laughed about this. I watched you become who you are.
My younger son captured it when he said, “Looking at the book as a whole, seeing our childhood written on a page through my Mom’s eyes, her passion and her care shines through the words and it really captures the feeling of growing up under that kind of love.”
Before We Knew They Were Memories isn’t a parenting book. It isn’t a guide to raising children. And it certainly isn’t a story about doing motherhood perfectly.
How should I say it? It is one mother’s attempt to remember. Most importantly, I realized the stories aren’t unique to us. They are happening in other households, too. Not in the same words, not in the same settings, but with the same emotions: the laughter, the worry, the pride, the letting go, and the realization that our children are growing up.
And then I held the book in my hands
Seeing years of your life printed on paper and published as a book is quite strange… and fulfilling.
Stories that once existed on a computer screen meant to make me laugh with fondness are now in pages I could turn. The little boys in those stories were now young men who could hold their childhood in their hands. As my older son said during my book launch, “Thank you, Mom, for remembering for us until we are old enough to remember for ourselves.”
On August 15, 2026, a day after I turned 50, I celebrated the book with family and friends in Jakarta.
The timing felt right. At 50, I find myself less concerned with what lies ahead and more reflective of everything that brought me here. This book sums it up.
Maybe this book is also for you
Perhaps you will find a little bit of your own story in these anecdotes. Because so much of life happens before we realize we should be remembering them.
Before We Knew They Were Memories is my way of preserving some of mine.
I’m very happy to finally share it with you.
Before We Knew They Were Memories
by Wendyflor Palomo
First Edition, 2026
You can read more about the book, see photographs and reader reviews, and order your copy through my My Book page.
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