I'm a Quad Cities native who has lived a little — spending time in Arizona, Tennessee, Colorado, and Florida — before finding my way back to the place I call home. That journey gave me a broader perspective on people, on life, and on what really matters. But not all of those years were ones I'm proud of.

I'll be the first to tell you that for a good stretch of my life, I was running in the wrong direction. The choices I made, the priorities I cha...