The end of the year is a time for giving thanks for the manyopportunities and lessons of the past. So while we're (turkey)sandwiched in between Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanza,it's time to take stock of all the things for which to begrateful.

We can all be grateful so many amazing credit union leadersexist to include in CU Times' Final Four program. We started out with 64, andbelieve me, it was difficult for us to whittle down to only thatmany. We let the readers take it from there with online voting.Following who makes it to the next round has been fun, althougheveryone on that original list – and many others – are all winners.It's been interesting to observe who lobbies for themselves or acolleague, who's sharing on social media and who emails usprivately about this pick or that. Participation in this programhas far exceeded my expectations, which makes me grateful for ourloyal audience. I'm also grateful to Executive Editor HeatherAnderson for talking me into it, and particularly Social MediaDirector/Senior Reporter Myriam DiGiovanni for plowing through allthe complications.