Liberty

"You almost needed to be some sort of a super genius to pass the entrance exams in Iran to go to the Universities there." my Dad commented when I asked him about the reasons he wanted to come to America. He and his friends wanted an education. He was accepted into the University of Jacksonville, Florida but decided to come to California at the last minute when he heard his two friends would be here. He changed his plane ticket from Florida to Los Angeles and when he arrived, the lady at customs welcomed him in. Iranians were well respected here at the time.
On the American soil he planted himself on that day, my Dad stands in the kitchen, squeezing lemons into lemonade while he continues telling me his story. Mak walks in the kitchen looking for lined paper and my thoughts run away, down lines of our genealogy. Domi sits in the dining room, studying for her English Language School on the computer and asks me if I will review a paper for her later. I think about her trip from Italy and am able to catch short glimpses of the lifestyle my Dad had in the stories he was telling. 
"English is a very difficult language to learn." I say to my students as they are learning multiple meanings for the same word in class. I look around at each one of their small faces and am grateful for them for the opportunities they have been blessed with and don't even know it yet. I open the book for "Open Court" reading where each student takes turns reading aloud. We read about the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. I start sweating with excitement and finally take off the huge coat I'd been wearing all day while I got up to explain what we read after every few paragraphs.
What is liberty?

Suzie