Freedom and Flight...

Her mother rushed down the stairs, without bothering to wait for the elevator. She was just hoping that she’d not be too late. After all, she had seen her little girl standing on top of the jungle gym, with her arms spread, ready to jump. She ran through the lobby, straight past the park gate but, she was too late. Her little girl was sitting on the ground, with blood all over her face, two front teeth missing and tears flowing down her chubby cheeks.

She picked up and hugged her daughter."Don’t cry Lilly. You’re all right. Now tell me where does it hurt?", Mother asked tenderly. Lilly did not reply, but looked at her mother’s face for a moment and then said, "I couldn’t fly like a birdie. I want to be free like a birdie!Where are my wings?" Her mother, taken aback looked at daughter who had, to her great surprise associated flying with freedom. Where, was she supposed tell Lilly, that her wings were? She smiled at her and said, "You’re still a baby birdie, Lilly. You’ll grow wings when you grow up." The little girl looked at her mother, deciding whether her mother was telling the truth. "OK", she replied, taking her mother’s word.

A decade passed, without any more flying attempts and Lilly grew to be a beautiful, intelligent and thoughtful girl. The jungle gym incident was a memory she remembered very clearly and one she often thought about. She still did want to fly and for her, flying was being free. But she knew her wings weren’t strong enough yet. Her mother, her confidante understood her. She admired Lilly’s understanding of freedom and independence but, at the same time, she knew how easy it was to become reckless from free and arrogant from independent. But, for now, she knew that her 14-year old girl was far from both.

A couple of years later, Lilly won a national writing competition. She had written an essay on 'Freedom’, something that had always intrigued her. She had written honestly, what she believed freedom was.
"Freedom to me, isn’t the liberty to speak our minds, or the liberty to use public property. It isn’t just something that the constitution guarantees us. It is the liberty of choice. It is the freedom to choose what we become. It is what enables us to embrace our purpose and it is what makes us independent. Our freedom is our identity.", her essay read.

Her mother, proud of her daughter’s perception saw how Lilly’s wings had become stronger. She knew that Lilly wasn’t truly independent yet. She hadn’t had to choose or sacrifice. Though she had comprehended freedom and independence, she had not, so far seen the responsibility, the duty and the sacrifice that were a part of it. But, her mother knew that she would, really soon. And so did she.

A day dawned when Lilly’s wings were ready for flight. But this time, she needed her freedom. To become independent, she had to make a choice and take responsibility for it. The consequences that would follow her decision would be her own to deal with. This time, the resolution was hers.
She went to her mother, nervous because of what she valued most. Freedom. It was powerful and something to fear if not valued. With the power of choice, came the responsibility of consequences, the duty of its moeurs and sacrifice. Was she ready for this, Lilly asked herself. But her mother knew that she was. Now had she truly understood freedom.

As Lilly made her choice, embraced her freedom along with its encumbrance, she flew. Her mother with joy looked at her daughter who had, from a four year old who had jumped from the jungle gym to fly like a birdie, become a free bird.