Stars

When we're little, barely even babies anymore with little toes and fingers, we sing a song about stars. It goes, twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder--but it's kind of long. You know those, out there--filling up the galaxy. We look at them every night. It's different here than where you're from, but we still look up just the same. Necks arched, chins reaching, we absorb them. They're deceiving--the deadest things that look alive. 

A long time ago, after we'd fought and lost and fought and won and fought and lost more times than you can count, a man looked up at our flag. It's the symbol for this country, and places all over this world have them. They look different, but anyway, ours had stars on there. Stars, like in the galaxy. And that flag, after another long fight, inspired him to write an anthem. The Star Spangled Banner, it's called, and it's sung every day. It's about our independence, our drive and determination and the pursuit of liberty. It's all about independence. That's just one story, though. There are many others, for each country all over the world, and they all look different. All of us continue our fights. People often loose a lot for what they want to win. 

It starts young, this fighting. Way back in the beginning, when we've barely come into the world. We get up and stagger forward on fat little legs, and our mothers have to bite their lips and stand and watch. Wait. When we fall, we might cry a few drops, but eventually we do it again. And each time we move further from what we know. Then, when we're older, we dip our toes into new waters--that's an idiom, by the way; I can explain what that word means later--but anyway, we leave our families to learn, and then we have to try new scary things. As we grow older, we fight different fights, same as you. Some people fight for equality. They want everyone to be treated the same, with equal respect. Some fight for their countries, like I talked about earlier. You're probably fighting for yours. And some fight to get away from people who hurt them, and some fight to stay with people they love, and at the end of the day as our eyes grow tired and our hearts slow the stars come out, and they sparkle. The deadest things that look alive, remember? Some people make wishes on them. 

Independence is distance. It's the fact that you're here, thousands and thousands of miles from home. Maybe even millions. Independence is a fight. It's the fact that you've entered this world not knowing what to expect, but you're willing to take chances. Independence is the basis of every life, and it lives in us all. See? You're independent, but it's hard to explain; I hope I'm making sense. 

We worked really hard, for a very long time, for our independence. Not everybody here has it. There are people who still need help to fight the fight, and a lot of us want to give it to them. But we can't, if you do this. We can't if you take it away. Choose to be independent--return to your stars. And we'll go back to ours.