It 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. First there would be pain, abuse, personal failures, broken relationships, lies, deception and sexual wear and tear, but in the end... Ding! It was the noise of the day that mattered most to me… playtime! Three hundred children rushed out of the huge white doors of the all-wood building, requiring a lick of paint and repairs. The paint was peeling and the floorboards were moaning your position with pinpoint precision every time you took a step. We rushed to the playground, a huge, fenced-in open space that, to a child's eyes, held the beauty of a savannah. In reality, there was no grass, except for a few patches that seemed impervious to trampling; there were no swings, no monkey bars, no fields, not much to say at all. There were a few scattered trees, including a few almond trees, and it was under the almond tree that the game should have taken place. For the first time in my life, at seven years old,...