What an interesting glimpse at a period that lives on the edge of my consciousness. I was 3 at that time, but I remember going to rallies with my parents a few years later. I also remember tanks and APCs parked all over Vilnius after the events of January 13th, 1991. The amount of respect, gratitude and admiration I feel for the people who drove the independence movement forward is difficult to describe.

And then, every once in a while I meet somebody from Russia or some other post-soviet state and hear them longing for those "long gone days" or ask me "is it really that much better for you now?".

It is. Much better. Sure, we have problems. Social and economical ones. But at least they are our problems. And we have the freedom to solve them on our own.