A young girl stands apart from the other children with her father, looking away from the camera. A red gown, a yellow cap, and a mini diploma in her hand—it’s Manzanita’s preschool graduation day.
As I browse through old photo albums I stop and stare at this picture every time. I try to remember this moment in time. When I was five years old, when I was bilingual, when I went to Manzanita preschool in Oakland, CA. My mom amusingly says, when I attended Manzanita my favorite thing to say was apoco to muse about gossip I couldn’t have possibly understood.


