It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but Christmas can also be the most trying time of the year.

One of the traditions in the Aun household growing up is we never decorated anything until Christmas Eve. My father, whose name I share, would begin literally to build an almost life size manger scene in front of our home on South Lake Drive in downtown Lexington.

All I can say is that it was good that the statues we used were not life size. They were made of concrete and even a small size replica would run 50-75 pounds.

Guess where my dad stored them for the other 11½ months of the year? Under the house. Yours truly and my 10 siblings had the pleasure of digging them out.

“MICHAEL A” as my dad was affectionately known would begin the construction process a couple of days ahead of time, using wood that he had scrounged all year in his construction business. The exterior boards were pine and the bark was real.

We would populate most of the manger scene in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve, saving baby Jesus to the last. Then, the family tradition was to all attend Midnight Mass together at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Assembly Street in Columbia and return home to place the baby in the manger.

The holiday party would commence and continue for the next 2 weeks. Christmas music was “piped” out to the manger scene. We would often greet and feed complete strangers in the restaurant my dad built next door, “Aun’s Feed Stable.”

My siblings Fred, John, Jeannine, Therese and George operated the Feed Stable at one time or another. Others like Lorraine and Charlie sang in the musical group “TLC”-(Tender Loving Care) on many nights in the restaurant along with other locals.

All my brothers and sisters helped building the Feed Stable or worked in it over the years. Aun’s Feed Stable served homemade deli-style sandwiches before franchises like Subway came here.

THE FUN OF preparing for Christmas was as important as the event itself. That was what Christmas was to our family. Some years we would sponsor some toy drives or food collection events.

The manger scene would remain up for 2 weeks after Christmas. Many people appreciated it because they rarely could enjoy the season as much as they would like.

I lost my father on Dec. 27, 1997. Christmas and New Year’s always have meant mixed emotions to many in our family.

Your traditions remind you of the joy of the season. Even the sadness of losing a loved one is magnified by the season.

We associate the good times that we harvest during Thanksgiving and Christmas even though they may be laced with loss.

These traditions are all based on those good experiences, cultures harvested by the labors of the good times from the vineyards of life. We treasure them, not because of the ashes, but rather to pass along the flame for our progeny to inherit.

Michael Aun received the Philip Hosche Distinguished Service Award of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors of Central Florida..