The day freedom comes calling

Ladies and gentlemen, 

I stand before you, not because I am the most learned. No. I do not stand before you my fellow countrymen and women to steal the show and claim the presents of your hardwork, the fruits of your sweat. No. I stand before you because in me dances a happy tune. I am delighted that these winds today have brought back our prayers. The songs we sung on the fields have been answered. The lashes of the mocking whips on our bare backs have started to heal. The waters of our rivers are getting clearer, for our blood has stopped flowing in their stead. The clouds have started to scatter and the darkness is at bay. The sun shines our way. We had prayed for this day. When brightness would come and stay. And I pray, that the days of the enemy stay away. May the sun never leave and may we fight to protect our shadows. Our children. They will learn of the days when we hungered and we will teach them to be grateful. To be watchful. Because we smile today unsure of tomorrow. A kind of an awkward smile. Half-happy, half-worried. That's where our thoughts bite the hardest and chew the longest. When we worry. But if it wasn't for worries, how would we have fought to reclaim the freedom we once did not know we needed? Or even possessed? It takes the fear of theft to be worried for your possessions. And, somethings are just too valuable to easily repossess. We have lived this story. We have shed our blood for today. We deserve it, we have suffered long and hard enough for it. 

So, tonight we bless our forefathers as I pour libation unto them. I bless the hills, they have shielded us from the evils in the east and famine in the west. I bless our sons, to always be fearless and to discover life for themselves. I bless our daughters, to always bring life into every situation they find themselves in, to build and not destroy, to love and not hate, to care and give a home to every soul that seeks one. I bless everyone today, that their actions may continue to be meaningful and well-meaning while at it. That we may be less harm to ourselves and empower each other. Spread the love, my children, tomorrow is another day we have been blessed to see, free.