I believe I mentioned recently that I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. Later this week, I will celebrate the first anniversary of my realization of one of my biggest.

I first met Richard Auwerda about two and a half years ago when I stopped for a gathering of conservative friends at the Wallaby’s restaurant in Ames. I was meeting just about everyone in the room for the first time, but it felt like we were all old chums.

I could tell right away Richard was a guy I needed to get to know better, mainly because we had a lot in common. We both were Christian. We both were veterans. And, we both were pretty much in agreement politically.