Before Life Got Loud

I still miss those days when I had space to breathe. Before the rush. Before the weight.

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

There are times when everything is too fast — too much, too heavy.
And during those periods, I quietly miss the life I had before all this.
Before I needed to leave.
Before I had to grow up quickly.
Before the necessity to survive and persist overwhelmed us.

I grew up and was born in the countryside.
The kind of place where mornings were simple, afternoons were slow, and the evenings were quiet.
There were few schools, and education was a luxury in far-off places.
But we enjoyed peace.

I recall sleeping with my siblings.
The gentle whispers of my aunties and the happy smiles of my Lolo and Lola.
The silent strength of my parents who managed to live off what little we had.
Despite the fact that we had very little, there was solace in that life.
And I didn’t know how much it meant until I had to leave it behind.

In 11th grade, I realized that staying rural meant staying confined.
So I departed.
Not because I…