My father and mother met like so many during World War II. My father, Michael A. Aun, Sr. was in the United States Army and stationed at Fort Jackson for his basic training. It was there that he met my mother to be, Alice Celeste Mack.

She was the daughter of Elias S. Mack, Sr. and Delle Parker Mack. Her brothers, Elias S. Mack, Jr. and Arthur E. Mack are now retired and living in Lexington along with her sister, Olga Mack Renard.

My real grandmother died when my mom was only a teenager and my grandfather remarried my step-grandmother, Tina Mack, who is still alive today, in her nineties and also living in Lexington.

My parents were hardworking people. We were poor. There were eleven children in the family so life was a struggle ever since I can remember. But "Mama Alice" and "Michael A." (as they came to be known by their friends and family) had courage, persistence and fortitude.

My parents enjoyed a military courtship that, at best, was short, but lasting. Being of Lebanese descent, my father met my mother as so many military men met their wives, at the social functions hosted by the Army for people of like backgrounds. In an effort to make men in the military feel at home, every ethnic group was encouraged to provide these social opportunities and to open their homes to men who were estranged from their own families.

My mom met my dad in this way. My mother's sister, Olga Renard, met her husband George Renard in the same manner. Many of these military matches made during World War II are still very much alive and well with marriages in excess of 60 years not being uncommon.

Shortly after my parents met, they married and my father, like so many others, shipped out for a tour of duty in North Africa. He served as an interpreter for General Eisenhower. He joined the cavalry because he loved working with horses, but because he was bi-lingual and knew Arabic fluently, he became an interpreter for General Eisenhower.

During his tenure in the military, Michael A. Aun, Sr. was wounded four times, earning four Purple Hearts and the Silver Star. His duty was not very cushy even though his position with General Eisenhower was quite important.

Before my dad entered the military, he was a commercial artist by trade. He hailed from Patterson, New Jersey where his artwork was literally and liberally displayed all over the city, but not in a way you might think.

These were the pre-offset press days so printing of huge billboards was simply not done. Marquees in front of movie theaters were literally hand painted in those days.

My father would go into the movie house, watch the film, sketch a scene and then paint that scene on the marquee in front of the movie house. He had 29 theaters all over New Jersey that he serviced.

Along came the offset press and overnight he was literally out of business. World War II was declared and the call to duty came. He was sent to Camp Jackson, as it was known in those days, for his basic training.

My parents were happily married and produced 11 of us children after losing the first three. Times were not that easy when we were growing up. We were poor, but we really didn't know it. To be honest however, sometimes I "suspicioned it." Thank God for cardboard. Frankly, there were days when my hand-me-down shoes would not have had soles were it not for the Sears & Roebuck catalog.

Perhaps that's the greatest tribute of all I could make to my parents. We were poor but they let us think we were rich. We were rich with friends, loaded with love, affluent with relationships, prosperous with faith, rolling in enthusiasm and wealthy in spirit. Yes, we were blessed. Thank you "Mama Alice" and "Michael A." You touched us with your love and we are sanctified because of it.