<p>Annette Lathrop</p>

Many visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History cite the gem gallery as a favorite. There displayed are vast collections of exquisite emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, including the famous Hope Diamond. Secured behind glass and heavily guarded, all are invited to look but not touch.

Living in Wallowa County, we are surrounded by treasures, perhaps even more valuable than the Smithsonians gems. We are blessed to live in a place of majestic beauty, in a country that is known for freedom, knowing prosperity unlike any people at any time in history.

Unlike the gems in the museum, these treasures are available to everyone. While the magnificent beauty that surrounds us is breathtaking, with our busy lifestyles, we can fail to appreciate our great fortune. At first we vow to never forget to pause and drink in the beauty of the surroundings to which we wake. However, slowly, lifes issues invade, we become preoccupied, lives operate on remote control; we take our great treasure for granted.

Freedom is like that, often taken for granted. America has been like a lighthouse flashing the bright light of freedom to the world for generations. As a result, we have been a model for some countries; an avowed enemy to others.

There has never been a time in our history when there hasnt been a stream of immigrants flowing to America, drawn by the hope of freedom and the promise of the American Dream. Here, there has always been opportunity for those who work hard to prosper, to break the economic ceiling of past generations. In America, everyone has the right to religious, political and economic freedom. Immigrants, once assimilated, add richness and depth to the tapestry of American culture. Wallowa County is home to some remarkable folks who are citizens by choice including Mike and Maggie Vali who fled communist Hungary, and Angie Dietrich who chose freedom over a socialist German homeland.

For the majority of Americans, however, this great gift of freedom is all we know, its our norm.

In todays political climate, many are becoming concerned about the eroding of our freedom. However, imagine having enjoyed freedom as an American and then having none.

For a citizen from the Boise area this is not a hypothetical matter. Saeed Abedini came to America a young man fleeing religious persecution.

Marrying an American citizen in 2002, his family now includes two small children. Like many American families, the Abedinis enjoyed a trip to Disneyland.

Since arriving in America, Saeed has been ordained as a pastor and become an American citizen. Holding a dual citizenship with Iran, he has made many trips back to visit his parents. On each visit he also worked on a long-term humanitarian project establishing orphanages with the consent of the Iranian government.

On his last visit, July 2012, he was unexpectedly arrested. January of this year he was tried, convicted and sentenced to eight years for threatening Iranian national security. His real crime was to convert from Islam to Christianity. He is under constant pressure to recant his faith.

Today, Saeed is held in the brutal Iranian prison Evin, known for its torture. He spent his 33rd birthday this month locked in a dark hole called solitary confinement. Denied medical treatment, he is suffering internal bleeding from frequent beatings. However, the psychological torture is the worst. No one seems to hold out hope that Saeed will live to serve his sentence. There is a worldwide effort ongoing to obtain his release.

We all know that our freedom isnt free. Heroes have always stepped forward, willing to fight and die in order that we, Americans, might continue to live in freedom. This is the time of year when we pause as a country to say thank you and honor fallen heroes.

Another way of honoring them is to never take our freedom a priceless treasure for granted.

Conservative thinker Annette Lathrop lives in Wallowa County, where she has taught school and Sunday school.