This was a time of amplified fears, self-doubt, and fear of failure. Yet the moment I speak of would lead to the discovery of peace, hope, joy, redemption and definition. In the beginning there would be pain, abuse, personal failures, broken relationships, lies, deception and the wear and tear of sex, but in the end… Ding! What mattered most to me was the sound of the day…recess! Three hundred children rushed out of the enormous white doors of the all-wooden building, in need of painting and repairs. The paint was peeling and the floorboards groaned your position with pinpoint precision every time you took a step. We rushed to the playground, a huge, fenced-in open space that, in a child's mind's eye, contained the beauty of a savannah. In reality there was no grass, except for a few patches that seemed walkable; there were no swings, no bars, no courts, there wasn't much to talk about. There were a few scattered trees, some of them almond trees, and under the almond tree the game was supposed to take place. For the first time in my life, at seven years old,...