Part III – 1991

"The air was lifeless."

"...each coupon was good for specific items not normally available: milk, cheese, flour, grains, eggs, butter, etc. She suggested if I saw a line appear in front of a shop to join it because it meant a new shipment of goods were delivered and would sell out in minutes."

"Sigitas leaned in across the table and whispered, “Let me tell you a secret..."

“Here it is, your 1989 JAWA 350!”

"I approached the back of the Parliament grounds."

"Armed guards at the Lithuanian military checkpoint obstructed my path."

"My meals were relegated to the café snack shop. My entire diet was made up of farmer’s cheese and poppy seed buns. The coffee and cigarettes kept me going."

"Romas asked, “I just heard. Are you headed to Medininkai? Can I get a ride?”"

At 3:00 a.m., a huge explosion echoed through the city... The cross in Lukiškio square to commemorate those the Tzar hung after the 1863 uprising was blown up by Soviet military.

The cross the Soviet military blew up was restored.

"A woman with a motorcycle was not only a novelty on the streets, but also a curiosity in the neighborhood. The young kids became my instant new best friends, as they persuaded me into giving them rides."

"Altar boys soon approached, carrying a cross, flanked by adolescent girls in traditional Lithuanian clothing carrying white flowers."

"Men in green uniforms riding horses carried shields displaying the Lithuanian Customs’ Department insignia."

"To relieve the stress I ventured outside and wandered around the building with the others who continued to serve as human shields. After eight months, and with what happened on January 13^th, and now, Medininkai, you’d think people would return to the safety of their homes.

"The courage of the small crowds who vigilantly guarded at all hours of the day and night provided me with an injected of inspiration to continue to return into the InfoBureau and keep working toward the shiny light of freedom at the end of this struggle."

"The barricades before me, with its barbed wire covered in anti-Soviet protest signs, represented the decades of deaths of sacrifices for this impossible dream."