People today might not believe it, but when I was a child, the farthest place I could go was the town, and my biggest wish was to own a pair of cotton shoes with no holes in the toes.
But that poor mountain valley, where we barely had a penny to our name, gave me the wildest, craziest joy of my life, the kind that didn't know what it meant to be afraid.
Back then, I didn't know what "fate" or "choice" meant. I only knew the mountains were green, the sky was blue, and the wind felt sweet when I ran.
