Can we buy freedom? By Lėja Ananjevaitė

To me, freedom is something you can’t buy for money but also can’t get for free. Freedom is something that you need to deserve and fight for.

The thing I’m very proud of is the freedom of our country. To me it’s very important because now we can do way more than before when we were not an independent country. For example now we can say whatever we want, speak our native language, have our own laws and much more. Most people don’t even bother thinking about the cost of freedom. I think it’s because we haven’t fought for something so valuable and important not only for us as individuals, but also for the entire country, as a nation. I think a younger generation should be more familiar with the history of our freedom, since we have national holidays that celebrate freedom of Lithuania. But sometimes I feel like we should teach kids more about it because every Lithuanian should know the history behind those holidays too. Maybe we should teach about it more because it’s something we should be proud and not ashamed of, the struggle of our nation for freedom is impressive and worth remembering. I personally was very interested when I first heard about the holidays that celebrate freedom of my country, in fact, I started asking my family to tell me more stories about how they fought for freedom. But it is just my personal experience. I hope future generations will remember and appreciate the cost that our ancestors had to pay so we can live like we do now!