Freedom
Jesse R. Moran
What is freedom? Is it something tangible that we can hold
onto? There are songs about freedom, poems and books, but
what is it really? Could it be just a term thrown about to give
people a sense of hope or happiness? What is freedom? For me
to explain what I think freedom is I have to look at where I
have come from and how I got to where I am today. When I
was young, I was raised by my mother. We were very poor and
for a time homeless. I can't think of a single moment when we
ever had more than we needed. This was the basis of how I
began to view what freedom was. For a small child living off of
whatever you could, I began to view freedom as money and
only something that privileged people had. Although I know
that is not the case today, these were my views on the world.
With school being a place where I saw kids who were far better
off than myself, I began to shut the world out. Subsequently
my education began to lack and the schools began to notice
placing me in special education classes. This only furthered my
thoughts of being different and below the rest of the students.
It wasn't until I left my mother's house and moved in with my
Pa (with whom I share no blood relationship with but was