What I think freedom is . . .

I feel very lucky to live in America, and am thankful to those people throughout our country's history who have sacrificed so much in order to make our country what it is today. So many people have suffered wounds or lost their lives trying to establish the ideals of freedom and liberty. They paid a high price for the freedom and liberty of others. To me, freedom means that I am able to live my life in a country where I am not always told by the government what I must do, or say, or how I must vote, or what my religious beliefs must be. I can feel relatively safe because the U.S.A. has established laws for its citizens to follow. Freedom comes in all the little things that people take for granted everyday such as walking down the street, going to church, choosing where to live, raising a family, saying what's on your mind, feeling safe. With the ideals of liberty and freedom comes hope. There is hope for the future. I know that my children, my grandchildren, and their children will continue to live in a society that values individuality and individual rights. The singer, Lee Greenwood, eloquently stated this in his song, "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me!" Thanks to those early colonists from the American Revolution and all those people since then who have strived for "Liberty and Justice for all".