Twenty-one years ago, I was stuck in a dead-end job. In fact, at the time I had two of them. Serving Egg McMuffins in the morning. Waiting on customers at the local laundromat until closing. 

I had had a lot of dead-end jobs since graduating high school. 

It had never occurred to me that they were dead-end jobs. All I knew was that they got me a paycheck that allowed me to pay some bills for mom and get me through the week.

It was during that time I met a recruiter for the United States Navy. He came into the laundromat; we struck up a conversation and he invited me to his office for a talk. 

It forever changed the man I was and the person I became. 

“Your life is going to pass by whether you do something with it or not,” he said.

His words were a push into purpose.

Thus began what became a decorated 21-year career in the United States Navy.

My mama taught me to work. And imparted a belief in the Almighty. 

The Navy taught me perseverance, integrity and responsibility. 

No one can ever take from me the values I learned on mom’s lap, or the lessons I learned serving my country.

In the Navy, when you see something that might endanger fellow sailors, you assume responsibility. When you see a crew member struggling to complete a task, you assume responsibility. When see something that needs to be done, you assume responsibility. 

As in life, our Democracy is what WE make it. 

I see things that need to be done, tasks that need to be completed, unsolved problems that endanger the future of Southwest Tennessee and the greatest country on God’s green earth. 

It is that which pushes me into purpose once again, to do what is required, to fight for what is right, to put all in a position to succeed. It is why I’m running for Congress in the 9th Congressional District of Tennessee.