A great article Tom. Well done on the run, the risk, and the effort to benefit your community. I too have run, served, run again, and lost. There is that moment of naïve audacity where you walk up to the court house window pay your fee and sign your name. I was 19 years old when I won my first campaign. Now, at 64 years old I can look back on all the committees, projects, proposals, and especially people who occupied my 'extra hours' over and above earning a living.

While not every American should or can serve well in office, every American can imagine themselves in the role of public service. So much of the work that comes after the campaign is unglamorous. Late nights, breakfast meetings, long awkward phone and zoom meetings.

In my first School Board, we had a member who earned the nickname, The Jellyfish. A retirement- age executive bureaucrat who actively avoided all difficult discussions, he provided no value. You have to commit yourself to risky and innovative positions that expose you to scrutiny. Even on your best days, you will find that you were wrong. It really takes guts to show you can work, learn, fail, listen, and then finally come to an agreement that looks for all the world like a 'Camel'. Every legislative bill I've ever worked on ended as a compromise.

Don't think that voting is the ultimate participation in America. Be the person who took the risks, burned the hours, was willing to be wrong and learn, and put in front of your community your best work. Well Done Tom, I'll walk with you in the next campaign.