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 (Les AuCoin), 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.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

On this Fathers’ Day, I remember my father.

And the memories are ALL positive, a gift in a day when some sons and daughters may not retain such memories.

I toyed with writing something else on this Fathers’ Day, but doing so would not have been appropriate.  Better to reflect on what Fathers’ Day means to me.

A few specifics regarding my father:

• He was ALWAYS there for me.  He had four other children, but he found time to invest in all of us.

• He always expressed love for our Mom. 

• He expressed his faith in God every day.  He accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation and encouraged us to do the same. 

• He made commitment to church critical for all of us.  But, not church for its own sake; church as an expression of love for God.

Today, about 15 years after his death, I remember my father fondly every day.  I miss him!

And, I only hope I can have some of the qualities of my father as I love my son and my daughter and their families. They deserve my best.