Freedom’s special for troops’ mother

Over the past two weeks, Times-Dispatch newsroom staff members asked people in the Richmond region, "What does freedom mean to you?"

We'll run their photos and answers in Saturday's Times-Dispatch as part of our special Fourth of July weekend coverage.

And each day this week starting today, we'll feature one of the more poignant responses. Sam Mickens, baseball coach and history teacher at Trinity Episcopal School, said freedom brings to mind all Americans who have fought for others to be free.

"Freedom is the sacrifice that many men and women have given over the years to allow us to live our everyday lives in a way that most people around the world don't get the opportunity to do," said Mickens, who turns 37 this Fourth of July.

-- Olympia Meola