Andrew Lam, “Letter to a Young Refugee”

“Above all, don’t forget. Commit everything – each blade of grass, each teary-eyed child, each unmarked grave – to memory. Then when you survive and are older, tell your story.”

The Beginning

Four years ago, I wrote an essay based on other people's memories. Months later, I watched rain ravage oak trees and send green leaves to an early death on the soaked lawn. I thought back to the essay then, and much, much further back, to my childhood, only to come up empty-handed as usual. (Not…