"Some relationships transcend the boundaries of traditional romance, deepening in meaning and affection through life's challenges. These connections stand as testaments to the enduring nature of love and the unbreakable bonds built by shared experiences. Such is the relationship of John and Monique in this tender memoir, "When Then Became Now," by Monique Rardin Richardson."
—Reader Views
"When Then Became Now is such a good memoir that I hope more people pick it up. Gorgeously written, deeply moving and just completely heart-breaking in many ways, it just begs to be read by as many memoir lovers (and more) as possible."
—Reedsy
"Moving and deep in just the right ways, this memoir will break your heart and put it back together again."
When Then Became Now is a memoir from the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s. It's about two Hispanic teenagers, John and Monique, who fall in love and shares the span of the relationship that crumbles from drug use to the end of John's life thirty-three years later. John left behind a son and two grandchildren, for whom he was writing his life story. Unfortunately, being homeless, his journal was lost to the streets in Southern California.
With grief in her heart, Monique writes to share
the one story she can share with John's son. The one of her and his father.
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