I was born in a big city. We lived on the 10th floor with a big terrace which my dad, an avid gardener, had turned into a manicured jungle. We literally had a garden in the sky!
By the age of 6, however, my parents realised my sister and I had never been in contact with a cow or a pig or a hen or a horse! This needed to be remedied, so they saved up some money and bought an ancient little stone house, in a village in the wine region of La Rioja, Spain. (Now I wonder…was it really about cows and pigs? Or wine? 😜)
The village was tiny, there were a few houses, a main square, a church and a bar, that was it. Apart from the famous vineyards, it was a very agricultural region, with the best produce I have ever eaten in my entire life.
I still remember that as a 6 year old, I was not too fond of vegetables, but that changed in La Rioja. I can still remember the taste of the green beans, the tomatoes, the peppers, the spinach! I even got into artichokes! Everything tasted absolutely amazing.
The milkman would come to the village every day in a little van with big metalic vases full of fresh milk which he would pour into your own jug. As a city girl used to buying milk in the supermarket, all this was very fascinating to me.
My sister and I were finally introduced to farm animals, I was amazed at cow’s eye lashes and at all the different noises a pig could make, horses were my favourite and my deep desire for riding started (later frustrated by a very strong allergy to hay 😩).
The best thing however, by far, was that I got my first taste of freedom in this little village. All the kids would wave goodbye at their parents after breakfast and only come back for lunch and dinner.
We would run around the village, climb up trees, steal grapes from the vineyards, go for picnics, look for berries, play with the animals… we were free. We were free and safe.
To this day, I have never again felt that careless freedom I enjoyed during those summers in the tiny village. I got a taste of how life should be and I still remember how incredibly wonderful it felt.
Years later, when I became a mum, I wanted my kids to get that same taste of freedom, but the world was a very different place. Whether you are in the city or in the countryside, kids have not been safe nor free, ever again.
I dream of a world where the childhood memories I have, are every child’s reality.
This is why we fight, because if we don’t, we may be the last generation to have tasted real freedom.
We owe it to the children to never give up. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
"Find time to reflect, it is the source of strength. Find time to play, it is the secret of youth. Find time to be kind, it is the road to happiness. Find time to dream, it is the path that leads to the Stars. Find time to love, it is the true joy of living. Find time to be happy, it is the true Music of the Soul."