This morning, as I pulled on my Juneteenth swag, I felt a weight I didn’t expect. I turned to my wife and rattled off the never-ending list of to-dos swirling in my head. It didn’t feel like a day off, it felt like a day on. I was frustrated that it seemed like I had to choose work over rest.

She paused me with one reminder: Today is about celebrating freedom. So let’s do that. Let’s be free.

That’s when it hit me: I get to choose how I spend my time and energy today. That, in itself, is a form of freedom.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what that word really means, especially in a country where not everyone experiences freedom in the same way. For some, life rolls along uninterrupted, untouched by fear or systemic barriers. For others, economic insecurity, social discrimination, or political persecution restrict their options and their hope.

Freedom is not static. It’s not a one-time event. And it’s not owned by one party or people.

Ronald Reagan (a republic president) once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction… It must be fought for, protected, and handed on.”

Frederick Douglass (another republican, but from a totally different generation) said it even more plainly: “I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” This is the same man who reminds us by the way that power concedes nothing without a demand.

So in our household, we go all out for Juneteenth. Not just for the joy, but for the reminder of our history and our responsibility in maintaining freedom for ourselves and each other. The promise of freedom is real, so is the peril of losing it.

This morning, my daughters and I watched a short video about the history of Juneteenth. What I like about this particular video is that it personalizes the story of emancipation. I appreciated how it centered real people making choices—some toward freedom, others toward oppression. It helped my girls see that history isn’t abstract. It happened here, in this country, and it still echoes today.

As for me, I’m choosing to work, but only on the things that matter to me. That’s the privilege of freedom. And today, I’m choosing to honor it.

SDW3