Belief in our collective mandate to serve others — in the context of our beloved democracy, in our day-to-day lives, and in the pursuit of the American Dream — is in my DNA. It was inserted there by another great American — my father.
Like my brown hair, kind eyes, and Roman nose, thanks to Dad, service runs in my veins as much as any other trait passed down through generations. But it wasn’t that simple. I wasn’t born with it, as I was with a Roman nose. Dad had to work a little harder to pass the trait to me. He didn’t just teach me. He showed me, and it was through all those examples I learned and absorbed what it really meant to be a citizen of this great nation…