It is Monday. So often, Mondays get a bad rap because it’s the beginning of the work week. It is not Monday’s fault – it is our responsibility and our attitude. Monday is doing exactly what Monday should be doing.

Today, it has been three years since my beloved great-aunt, Joyce Clary Riser. left this world. Joyce was the younger sister of my maternal grandmother and the last link to my childhood as I knew it. I can easily handle the other anniversaries of those who have passed from this life, but my Aunt Joyce’s death has left the worst form of emptiness and sadness. I know my cousins, Kim and Debbie, and their families still feel the heartbreaking absence, and I am thinking of them today.

On this date in history: (2012) Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, who was influential in stimulating Western appreciation of Indian music, died at age 92. (1998) The Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives recommended three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, to which would be added a fourth article the following day, for actions taken in connection with his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. (1981) American boxer Muhammad Ali fought his last professional bout, losing to Trevor Berbick in a decision. (1978) Nearly $6 million in cash and jewels was stolen from the air cargo building of the German airline Lufthansa at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City; at the time, the Lufthansa heist, as it became known, was the largest-ever cash theft in the United States. (1972) Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the last humans to walk on the Moon. (1967) The acclaimed American film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a lesson in racial tolerance and etiquette, premiered in New York City; it starred Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy (in his last movie), and Sidney Poitier. (1946) UNICEF—a United Nations program devoted to improving the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children—was established. (1941) Adolf Hitler declared that Germany was at war with the United States following the Japanese attacks on the U.S., British, and Dutch positions in the Pacific and in East Asia. (1936) Edward VIII, failing to win acceptance for his desire to marry American divorcée, Wallis Warfield Simpson, became the only British sovereign to voluntarily resign the crown, his abdication was formally approved this day in 1936.

Make it a great day!