I am grateful for many things in my life…

Thanksgiving is a homemade holiday, true enough. In a year where much has gone wrong in my world, I have to find the silver lining.

I buried my long time Administrative Assistant Viola Di Domenico earlier this year. She was a feisty 67 years old and tough as nails. I had the honor of doing her eulogy in May.

For most of her life she was a Registered Nurse and caregiver. In fact, she was the caregiver for the mothers of many celebrities when she lived in California, taking care of the mothers of Redd Skelton, Dean Martin and Joey Bishop, to name a few. President Bush even recognized her with an award for charity.

I met her when she moved to Florida and joined our church choir. I have employed most of the women who sing in our choir at one time or another. We have two kinds of choir members- old and older! They're all elderly and cranky, which is a mirror image of yours truly. They job share. If the one scheduled to work that day is under the weather, she calls another and says "You go put up with his crap today. I'm not up to it."

So it's Russian roulette for me. I never know which card I'm going to draw until I show up that morning and even then it's a roll of the dice. I never won an argument with Vi in all the years she worked for me. Stupid me. I actually thought I could. Being the boss meant nothing to her or any of the other taskmasters I employ. It's like I worked for them instead of the reverse.

In August of this year I had to say goodbye to my long time colleague and business associate Donald Russell. Moments before the funeral the widow asked me to do a eulogy. Thank God for my Toastmasters training. You always have to have one in your wallet.

I also had to eulogize another employee in October who took his own life. It was one of the most difficult speeches I've ever had to deliver. I've learned to never attend another funeral without a eulogy in my hip pocket. As a pallbearer, I was about to go down the aisle ahead of the family as his funeral Mass was about to begin when the widow asked me to do the eulogy. How do you make sense out of a senseless act of suicide? I dare you to rise to that kind of a challenge.

So this hasn't been a particularly fun year around our shop. Still we have much for which we need to be thankful.

I'm thankful that I over-married. As my high school football coach J. W. Ingram said when he first met my wife, "Boy, you've outrun your punt coverage this time."

My wife Christine is the most important person in my life. She has a wealth of patience, love and understanding, all of which are prerequisites in being married to yours truly. I'll never be half the man she deserves. I am grateful that she has always been there for me through thick and thin. And trust me; I have been pretty "thick" in more ways than one.

It's gratifying to have three of the most terrific sons any man could have. Cory and Jason are twins who were born the week before I won the World Championship of Public Speaking in 1978. Jason just completed his Masters Degree in microbiology. Cory and his lovely wife Casey have given me the most precious gift I could ever have, my beautiful granddaughter Ashley Elizabeth. She is the love of my life. My third son Christopher is pursuing a career as a Registered Nurse. I figure he can be my caregiver when I really get old and crotchety.

Though it has been a challenging year, life is good in the Aun household. I'm thankful for the good things that have happened in our life and grateful for understanding the cycle of life. We're just passing through. Make the most of your presence here on earth. It is but a speck on the backdrop of time. Thanks for giving!