To my family and everyone - friends, teachers, neighbors - that had any hand in my experience growing up in Hayward, it was a beautifully diverse place to grow up in and learn from all of you. Everything that matters to me, I learned in the heart of the bay.

Preview audio:

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Cheri, when she was a little girl in Hayward. (with her Mom, Dad, and Brothers, Danny & Tommy)

When I was a little girl in Hayward, my parents got a cream-colored shetland pony for my two brothers and me. We named her Lightning. I loved that miniature horse like she was my best friend. I talked to her daily and remember when my Papa from West Virginia came to help "break her," so we could ride her.

When I was a little girl in Hayward, my mom asked me to snap off the ends of the green beans to help prepare them for dinner. She also asked me to remove the shucks of the corn and feed them to Lightning. She told me to bring the rest back.

Later, when my mom asked where the corn was, I realized I fed the corn itself to Lightning and saved the green outer part instead.

That day, I learned what "shucks" meant.

I promised never to do that again.

When I was a little girl in Hayward, my friend Keiko and I would walk to the end of East Avenue to a dirt area with big Eucalyptus trees on both sides. In the middle was a big rock large enough for both of us to sit atop. We talked a little about everything and could see in the distance the San Mateo Bridge and sometimes even buildings along the San Francisco skyline, glisten from the sun.

On my way home, I stopped at Mrs.Denton's house next door and picked a handful of daisies, my favorite flowers. When I was even younger, I paid Mrs.Denton five cents so that I could pick as many flowers as I wanted.

My mom let me put the flowers in a vase and put them on the dinner table.

When I was a little girl in Hayward, I'd ride my bike around the neighborhood and sometimes would take my doll for a ride as I'd strap her in front of me with a blanket. One time, my blanket got caught in the spokes of the wheel, and the bike threw me forward and I busted my mouth and lost my front, permanent tooth.

Afterward, I wore a fake cap on my broken tooth, until I got braces to move all my teeth, which meant I had NO front tooth when I was in fifth grade. I had to take my finger and cover the space for a while, or people couldn't understand when I talked. It was embarrassing.

My dad took me to a store called Capwell's after I lost my tooth, and let me pick out a special doll. Without realizing it, I picked out the most expensive, but what I thought was the most beautiful doll there on a shelf I couldn't reach. It was a Madame Alexander Scarlet O'Hara doll that I still have today.