It is before 7:00 AM and our cruise ship is approaching the port of Klaipeda, Lithuania. My thoughts turn back to over sixty years to a conversation I had with the son of the janitor of a small local apartment complex.
He was passionate about the injustices imposed on his family and the need to liberate his native Lithuania from the grip of the Soviet Empire. His father had held a high position in the pre-Communist government and they had had to flee for their lives. They longed to return to their homeland.
I thought of my high school classmate when the Iron Curtain fell and I think of him again today. I do hope that he lived to see his beloved country once again independent and its citizenry free.
I would not be surprised if he were one of the people who helped bring this about.
