Danielle Lamoreaux

1 hour Ap English
12/3/17

Memoir Assignment 2
Dear Mr Fisher,

About a month ago we were assigned a memoir essay and got to choose whatever

memoir we wanted to but were also given a list of some popular ones. While I was going

through my options I came across Finding Fish searched it up and knew it was the perfect book

for me to read. This was a book I could not put down and always wanted to read it. Never once

do I regret choosing your memoir to read and write about. Especially when it is a topic I can

relate too.

While reading about your life story one word that seemed to always pop up in my head

was audacious. To me this is one of the greatest words to describe you as a person and how

you handled your journey through life. Since the first day you were born you were already

facing life changing issues. As you grew older you faced more and more of those issues while

living in the Pickett household. Never once did you back down and give up you fought through

every obstacle that came your way and didn’t let it defeat you. This is why I chose the word

audacious as it describes you as a person and stuck with you all the way since the day you were

born and helped you become successful in life.

 One big question I have for you is why did you never speak up for yourself and try to get

away from the pickets? You had many meetings with workers from the foster care programs

but you never said anything about what happened at the house and how you were treated.

Mrs. Pickett literally put you through hell with beating after beating and never once did you try

to get away from her. Not only did she abuse you but she used you and didn’t give you the life

you deserved. What is your reasoning for staying with them all that time?

Something as a reader that I am confused about is when you got molested why did you

never speak up and say something or leave when it happened? You were very young when it

happened but clearly what happened to you normally doesn’t happen to a seven year old boy

and it can be a life changing event not in a good way. You let her abuse you and use you in a

way no child should ever be treated. Not only did it made me sad to read it was unfair and

something that should never happen but sadly it does even today.

Personally out of all books I have read emotionally this one has hit me the hardest but is

also my favorite. You talked about stories of things you went through from being a little boy to

a teenager that no one would ever be able to believe were true because of how scary they

were. This memoir made me realize how blessed I am to have the life I have and to always

count my blessings because there are people who have it way worse. Your story was so

inspiring to me because no matter what you faced you pushed through and became the

successful man you are when you so easily could have backed down and gave up. I want to
thank you for sharing your story and hope someone going through the same situations reads

your memoir so they know one day everything will be okay. You are a very inspiring person.

Your memoir can relate to me on a personal level as I have grown up with a black foster

brother. My brother Darren was sixteen years old when he moved in with us which made me

six months. He lived in the inner city and went from home to home never able to live a stable

life with a family until he asked my parents to take guardianship over him. When he was living

in the inner city he was never going to graduate high school he was getting into bad habits and

hanging around the wrong people. When he moved in with us he attended Stevenson just like

my brother and I both have he played basketball throughout high school and even ended up

going to college to play. Later in life he ended up re connecting with his father who was unable

to take care of him and is currently dying of cancer but will occasionally go and see him. Other

than my brother Darren I grew up with people coming in and living with us many of them who

did not have a good life back in Pontiac where I spent most of my childhood because my dad

was a youth pastor there. These people who I call my family not only changed my life but we

got to help and change theirs many of which I still see all the time and are now very successful.

Thank you,
Danielle Lamoreaux