FROM THE NEWSROOM: What does freedom mean to you?

With the Fourth of July less than a week away, most of you no doubt have plans to spend time with family and friends. Maybe you plan to catch some spectacular fireworks or host a cookout in your backyard.

Whatever your plans, when you gather, what will you talk about?

Will you catch up on what your neighbors have been doing since the last community cookout? Or whether you can afford a trip to the beach this year? Or how good Aunt Dot's potato salad tastes year after year?

What about freedom?

Are you likely to strike up a conversation with family and friends about freedom?

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has been talking with your friends, neighbors, and some folks you don't know about that very topic.

Dozens of Richmond Times-Dispatch newsroom team members have spread out across the Central Virginia area in the past few weeks and asked people, "What does freedom mean to you?"

We stopped people on the streets to ask that question. We asked people at hair salons and dry cleaners. We talked to people at soccer fields and baseball diamonds. And we chatted with people at shopping malls and on their front porches.

The idea was to gather and then share with our readers and online visitors a diverse mix of voices talking about an important topic on which almost everyone has an opinion.

Beginning today, we're sharing some of the comments we've heard.

Most people pause to gather their thoughts before answering the question. Then they share what have often been very personal answers to a profound question.

Here's a sneak peek of some of the comments from people I spoke with:

"Freedom means . . . my children being able to go to school and not being afraid for their lives," said Angela Cable of Sandston.

Freedom means being able to "to take advantage of the opportunities that my ancestors didn't have and for me to learn and grow and better myself as an African-American woman," said Chiakia Crawford of Varina.

"It's just all about choices, and in our country we have the right to make the choice -- right, wrong, or indifferent," said Cindi Lewis of Eastern Henrico.

We talked to hundreds of people and took photographs of each person who commented.

Look for our special commemorative edition of The Times-Dispatch on Saturday -- we're planning a "Faces of Freedom" flag on the front page and will include many of the photos and comments on freedom inside the paper. At TimesDispatch.com, you will find even more photos and audio of Virginians discussing freedom.

Contact Senior Editor Sundra Hominik at (804) 649-6765 or .