"ANNUIT COEPTIS" ($ Bill)

Today is Thanksgiving and true to the spirit of the holiday, it behooves us to count our blessings and all we have to be thankful for. And so, I'll try to ex posit all my favorite things: I am thankful for the parents I once had and wish I still did; I am thankful for having lived into my 80's because there is much still to learn and to do. I am thankful for having survived WWII and for my crew members who are no longer with us; I am thankful for the post war support I received in the VA Hospital that led eventually to my college education. I am grateful for having spent 30 years in the classroom teaching the people and the subjects that delighted me; I am thankful for having soccer and track teams that gave me much joy, not so much for the winning, but for the relationships established with young men and women, and how they taught me lifelong lessons. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to travel for a year around the world; I am happy to have successfully completed two marathon runs--an obsessive goal; I am grateful for having loved two women, each of whom has graced my home for over 25 years; and I am most thankful for having four children who have pleased me in every possible way. I am thankful for all the friendships I have found in retirement, and I am thankful for the opportunities to perform in theatrical productions where I could act and sing, because I am a true "ham" whose milieu--besides the classroom--is the stage. And finally, I am thankful that I had the mindset and energy and will to write and publish two books. And after a traditional turkey dinner at Maggiano's tonite, I will have been fully Thanksgiving surfeited! And not least, I am thankful for the luck I had in finding RH+ for my wife, lo these past 25 years....LOVE TO ALL--AND THANKS FOR BEING YOU.