I have written several times in the past about the political volunteer work of my father, Haywood H. Hillyer III, a onetime Republican national committeeman who died 10 years ago today. I’ve avoided the usual encomiums to the sorts of things that mark father-son relationships, thinking them irrelevant for national publications.

But, 10 years later, the passage of time crystallizes some memories in a way that may be of interest. I’m not exactly sure, as I write this, where this little essay is going, but please bear with me.