My mom will say that as her senior year of high school came to an end, while her friends planned colleges and careers, her only plan post-high school was to marry Bill (my dad) and raise children. Her father asked her to try a year of college just to avoid any “I wish I had” in the future. So, she pushed through a year of community college, finished with no intention of going back, and started planning her wedding. Next month, my parents will fly to their hometown and celebra

I accepted my first law enforcement command assignment in 1992. I was still very new in my career but, I was promoted as the commander over a multi-jurisdictional drug and violent crimes task force. From then, until my retirement as chief of police in August 2015, I’d held leadership positions at a large nationally accredited agency. I’ve served as a division commander over a detective bureau, special ops section and uniform patrol division. In addition to my 12 years in an u

Very recently, my dad passed away. His admission into a local hospital didn’t leave much room for a positive prognosis. Leah and I drove back to my hometown the same day. Fear of his passing loomed over me the entire 8-hour drive. I had to be strong. It was my duty to get us there safe. Over the next days, my siblings gathered at his bedside. We laughed, cried, and tried out-doing each other over family stories where our dad was usually the hero. My wife barely said a word. S