PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

“Thank you for your service.”

Sometimes those words trip off our tongues easily with nothing much behind them.

Today, I utter them with full and deep meaning.

“Thank you for your service.”

I say this to such heroes as retired Colonel Ricky Love, one of my best friends who served well in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

He and many others like him, including those who did not make it home from various war zones, deserve our full and genuine appreciation – not just on this Memorial Day, but on all other days when we are able to value the freedom they preserved.