Childhood is the foundation that must be perfected if we are to live in a world that thrives. It's supposed to be a moment of innocence, wonder, security, and love. It should serve as a firm basis for future epigenetic and biological wellness.

I came across this while sorting through old photos! It's a picture of me when I was three (3) years old. My mother and aunt told me I was the town's favorite flower girl. I am always the apple of the eye for couples getting ready to say their "I DOs," and occasionally a Cape Bearer of Queens at Town Fiesta.

My early memories were still fresh. In this photo, I'm marching down the aisle of a Protestant church, flinging flowers before the bride and her entourage pass through the altar. I'm still drowsy. My Dad would bring me to the Church for the wedding rehearsals in the afternoon after his job a week before the wedding day. It's sometimes late at night when the rehearsal concludes, and I'm exhausted (what would you expect from a 3-year-old kid). They'd give me sweets to cheer me up before returning me to the rehearsal.

I remember Mom telling me a day before the wedding to go select flowers in her garden and fill my basket with different petals of flowers. I like collecting flowers because I can play with them by tossing them in the air like I'm taking a shower...On the wedding day itself, my mom wakes me up at four a.m. so I can eat breakfast, she brings me to a bath, and my Aunt will do my hair and apply my makeup. My father will take me to the church at five a.m., as the wedding ceremony begins at six a.m., and then to the reception. It would be exhausting for a child.

But no! Because I have playmates nearby, I had a great time. While my father is chatting with the newlyweds, I am with my playmates playing "taguan" (hide and seek). My Dad would look for me after the reception and find me covered in sticky perspiration and my clothing caked with dust. He would carry me then, wipe my entire body, and change my clothes before we went home because my mother would be furious seeing me in my stead.

How I miss my childhood, in which I had so much fun with nice and caring people around me; if only I could turn back the hands of time...

>I'm inviting @sarimanok, @jurich60, and @aura89 to share their childhood memoirs.