Thank you!

31 years ago, I was a five-year-old girl.
I couldn’t understand why Dad, dressed in his warmest clothes and saying goodbye in an unusual, longer, and quieter way,
left the house.
He said he was going to DEFEND LITHUANIA.

With my five-year-old mind, I didn’t understand why it needed defending.
Or why Mom’s cheeks were streaked with tears we tried to hide from each other.

Today I understand.
And I am grateful.
For the fact that we can live and create in a free Lithuania.
For the fact that our children can be born and grow up in a place where it is good…