I ran a remarkable political campaign, just one in my lifetime, with my friend as my teammate.

After feeling our calling to make a difference in not just our community but in our country, we embarked on an effort to bring a second term to the greatest President we knew. Hearing that the challenge was a stiff one, we decided to bring the extra votes needed for our guy to win. Once we made our signs and loaded them into the four-wheeler for delivery (our wagon), we marched up and down the street handing out our signs and yelling for people to vote for our candidate.

Being 6 years old, we only had one President that we could name so of course he deserved a second term. And proud we were that he won. In a twist of irony, I moved to Michigan 5 years later and lived very near the street intersection pictured above. Yep, my one and only political campaign and I will never do it again.

Instead of discussing our current dilemma of political choices, over which I am deeply disturbed, I will share my strong connection to Ronald Reagan. He is the only president to wave to me. In visiting the Ohio State campus on his re-election campaign, I failed to get into the stadium to hear him so stood outside our fraternity house when his motorcade drove by. It was awesome! Six cars sped by and since my friend and I were the only ones out there he threw us a smile and a wave.

Then the cars whipped around the corner coming to a screeching halt in succession a mere 1 foot from slamming each other’s bumper. What precise driving that required. Then all the doors except one opened which a spattering of noise like a woodpecker finding a trove of bugs in a tree. Nine secret service jumped out heads searching the surrounding houses where no one was watching. Once all was declared clear, Reagan got out and went to lunch at the OSU chapter of his old fraternity.

On an additional note, Reagan won and became responsible for me meeting my wife at a fitness club. When he came on TV for a speech during our favorite show, both of us decided to go workout instead to use our time more wisely. Biggest benefit a president could ever be.

Hope you have a Happy Friday.