HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY AUNT YVONNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private William J. Knight (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions during April 1862 in Georgia. His citation reads:

One of the 19 of 22 men (including 2 civilians) who, by direction of Gen. Mitchell (or Buell), penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Ga., in an attempt to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta.

Private Abiather J. Knowles (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 21, 1861, at Bull Run, Virginia. His citation reads:

Removed dead and wounded under heavy fire.

Second Lieutenant Edward M. Knox (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His citation reads:

Held his ground with the battery after the other batteries had fallen back until compelled to draw his piece off by hand; he was severely wounded.

I don’t plan on doing something like this for everyone… mainly just my immediate family. BUT, since Aunt Yvonne made me my afghan of many colors AND since I am her favorite child (not just favorite nephew… but favorite overall… my words, not hers), I will give you 60 things about my Aunt Yvonne.

1 – Aunt Yvonne is my Mom’s younger sister.

2 – She is married to my Uncle George (who is from the great state of Cuba).

3 – She has 3 children (Louis, Susan and Alan) who she loves almost as much as she loves me.

4 – I admit that I’m not confident enough to name her nieces and nephews on my Uncle’s side of their family, but I will tell you on our side of the family it’s just Sonny and Teresa Lynn (and, of course, me).

5 – Two of her children graduated from Clemson… only one child graduated from a real school of higher learning.

6 – Speaking of Winthrop, Aunt Yvonne was a student there for a semester or so until she realized there were no male students.

7 – As a native of the great Ville of Knights (that’s Knightsville, Teresa Lynn), Aunt Yvonne graduated from Summerville High School in 1971… a year after Sonny was born and a year before Teresa Lynn was born.

8 – When Aunt Yvonne was growing up, Summerville’s population was in the upper 3,000s (the last census in 2010 has the population at 43,392).

9 – For some reason, she has the younger generation of my family calling her “Wah Wah”… I don’t know why she doesn’t think they are smart enough to call her Aunt Yvonne like my generation does.

10 – She does also go by the name “Po’ Yvonne” (and Po’ Aunt Yvonne). This name was given to her by her mother (my grandmother, Granny) who used to always talk about Po’ Yvonne and all that she had to do raising 3 kids and working. The funny thing (to me, at least) is that she was usually saying it to my Mom (who, it seems unbeknownst to Granny, was also raising 3 children and working).

11 – Mom likes to tell a story about how when they were growing up, Granny would sneak out of the house to go somewhere and Aunt Yvonne would cry and say that she would just die if her momma wasn’t there… to which my grandfather would tell her “Well I guess you’ll just have to go ahead and die”. It sounds like Daniel is a lot like Aunt Yvonne…

12 – Word is, Aunt Yvonne would fake like she was sick to get out of school (and go stay at her Aunt Sister’s house).

13 – Her mom (Sue Knight) has a Sunday School class named after her at Bethany United Methodist Church.

14 – Also at Bethany, her Aunt Sister has a room/closet dedicated to her (I think it’s where the stuff for Communion is kept). There is also a plaque in one of the halls dedicated to her cousin.

15 – As of yet, her favorite does not have anything dedicated to him at the church… but I’m confident that my friends in high places will take care of that.

16 – When I was growing up, Mom would drive me over to Mt. Pleasant to get a hair-cut and then we’d go over to Aunt Yvonne’s house so they could talk and me and Louis could play.

17 – Back before cell phones, it was long distance to make a call from Aunt Yvonne’s house to Granny’s house… so she’d call our house and Mom (through the magic of 3 way calling) would get Granny on the line and then put the phone down to let Granny talk to her Po’ Yvonne.

18 – Walt Disney’s movie Peter Pan premiered the same day Aunt Yvonne was born.

19 – President Harry S. Truman announced the US had developed a hydrogen bomb a month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

20 – A month after Aunt Yvonne was born, Joseph Stalin (upon hearing of the birth) had a stroke and died.

21 – The 25th Academy Awards ceremony was held a month after Aunt Yvonne was born (and, for the first time ever, was broadcast on TV).

22 – The winner for Best Picture was The Greatest Show on Earth, which is now considered one of the worst films to ever win.

23 – Shirley Booth won Best Actress for her role in Come Back, Little Sheba… Booth was the last person to win an Oscar in a leading role ever to be born in the 19th century.

24 – Gary Cooper won Best Actor for his role in High Noon.

25 – Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible opened on Broadway the month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

26 - Walt Disney turned 51 just a couple of months before Aunt Yvonne was born. And by Walt Disney, I mean the actual man.

27 – Jonas Salk announced his polio vaccine a month after Aunt Yvonne was born.

28 – James D. Watson and Francis Crick of the University of Cambridge announced their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule the same month Aunt Yvonne was born (so she’s older than DNA!).

29 – Ian Fleming published his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale in the United Kingdom a couple of months after Aunt Yvonne was born.

30 – Mickey Mantle hit a 565 ft. home run (believed to be the longest in baseball history) a couple of months after Aunt Yvonne was born.

31 – The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom took place at Westminster Abbey the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

32 – Marshal Josip Broz Tito was chosen President of Yugoslavia the month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

33 – The first Chevy Corvette was built the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

34 – The US Treasury formally renamed the Bureau of Internal Revenue to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

35 – The Cuban Revolution began the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

36 – Fighting in the Korean War ended the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

37 – US Representative John F. Kennedy married Jacqueline Bouvier the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

38 – Earl Warren was appointed Chief Justice of the US the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

39 – Hugh Hefner published the first issue of Playboy magazine in the United States (with Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold) the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

40 – The FCC approved color television the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

41 – Pluto was still a planet when Aunt Yvonne was born (unlike when Susie and Daniel were born).

42 – Elvis Presley made his first recordings the year Aunt Yvonne was born.

43 – The Atlantic Coast Conference was formed the year Aunt Yvonne was born after Clemson, South Carolina, Duke, Maryland, UNC, NC State and Wake Forest left the Southern Conference. Later that same year, the ACC added Virginia.

44 – Eddie Fisher became “The Coca-Cola Kid” on the TV show Coke Time at a salary of one million dollars the year Aunt Yvonne was born.

45 – The year Aunt Yvonne was born marked the first time a rock and roll single (Crazy Man, Crazy, by Bill Haley & His Comets) made the Billboard national American musical charts.

46 – The CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel first met to discuss the UFO phenomenon a month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

47 – The first German POW’s return from the Soviet Union to West Germany the same year Aunt Yvonne was born.

48 – Hank Williams died just over a month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

49 – The biggest hit singles in 1953 were That’s Amore by Dean Martin, Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You) by Les Paul & Mary Ford, Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes by Perry Como, I’m Walking Behind You by Eddie Fisher and Your Cheatin’ Heart by Hank Williams.

50 – The New York Yankees won the World Series 4 games to 2 over the Brooklyn Dodgers the year Aunt Yvonne was born.

51 – Speaking of baseball, the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, becoming the first MLB franchise to relocate in 50 years.

52 - Sir Winston Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature the year Aunt Yvonne was born.

53 – TV Guide was published for the first time a couple of months after Aunt Yvonne was born.

54 – Indiana beat Kansas 69-68 to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship the year Aunt Yvonne was born.

55 – The NFL Championship was won by the Detroit Lions 17-16 over the Cleveland Browns in 1953 (there was no Super Bowl back then).

56 – Dwight D. Eisenhower was sworn in as the 34th President of the United States the month before Aunt Yvonne was born.

57 – She's pretty big on children not being barefoot in her house... she's not mean about it, she just starts twitching if there's a child in her house not wearing some type of footwear.

58 – The last season of the Negro American League was played just 2 years before Aunt Yvonne was born.

59 – Other people born the same year as Aunt Yvonne include: Malcolm Young (of AC/DC), Bruce Sutter (former MLB pitcher), Pat Benatar, Randy White (former Maryland and Dallas Cowboys star), Jeb Bush (son of one former US President, brother of another), Michael Bolton, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Tony Blair, Alex Van Halen, Pierce Brosnan, Tim Allen, Ken Burns, Hulk Hogan, Robert Parish and Dennis Miller.

60 – Aunt Yvonne has one nephew who was a member of teams that won a total of 2 State Championships, 2 Lower State Championships and 4 Conference Championships at James Island High School while another nephew brought great shame to the family by passing up a chance to play baseball for the great Chal Port at The Citadel (and, thus, play in the College World Series).

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY AUNT YVONNE!!!!!!!! We love you!!!!!!


Picture Tuesday

A note about the 60 pictures of Aunt Yvonne… I had to borrow some of these from Teresa Lynn and from a couple of cousins. It’s not that I didn’t have 60 pictures of Aunt Yvonne, it’s just that the pictures I had were all mostly from the same few events… so I wanted to have a little variety. And I’m not sure I had 60 pictures of Aunt Yvonne.

Ready to graduate from Summerville High School

I think that is Sonny with Aunt Yvonne... That, or I might have another cousin that I don't know about.  Or that could be Fredo, my other older brother who ended up getting shot during a fishing accident... wait, I'm thinking of something else

Mom, Aunt Yvonne, Aunt JoJo and Sonny (along with someone else, but I can't see who)

I'm guessing this is my cousin Louis with Aunt Yvonne

Dad, Mom, Aunt Yvonne and Uncle George

You can see part of Aunt Beth, Aunt Sister, my cousin Chuck and my Aunt Yvonne.  I'm not real sure what's going on in this picture, but if I had to guess I'd say Chuck is telling Aunt Sister (who is his grandmother) 'I just told Yvonne to kiss my ass' because it looks like that's what she's about to do.  That, or she's checking to see if Chuck needs a new diaper

Me, Dad, Aunt Yvonne, Mom, Louis, Uncle George and Granny at Aunt Sister's house

Aunt Yvonne and my cousin Susan at Aunt Sister's house

At Mom and Dad's house - Teresa Lynn, Mom, Me, Uncle George, Aunt Yvonne, Louis, Granny and Sonny

Aunt Yvonne at Teresa Lynn's house - trying to recover from Susan's wedding

Me, Mom, Aunt Yvonne and Louis

At Mom and Dad's house - Mom and Aunt Yvonne with their cousins and spouses

Here we see a picture from the day before Bryan and Susan got engaged - 'So, Bryan, let's talk about you and Susan...'

Working on my afghan of many colors

Her family at Mom and Dad's house

Aunt Yvonne, Aunt JoJo and Mom

Aunt Yvonne with her dogs

Another post wedding pic (with Leah and Ansley)

Bride with Mother of the Bride

Aunt Yvonne, Louis, Mom and me

Aunt Yvonne with Mom

Aunt Yvonne, Sonny and Mom

Some things are best left unspoken



Aunt Yvonne, Teresa Lynn, Louis, Granny, Sonny and me

Here with her granddaughters Avery and Kelsey

Aunt Yvonne with me

Aunt Yvonne holding Susie

Another family pic

I just wish we'd taken more pictures of me, Mom, Aunt Yvonne and Louis

Here she is with Mary Ruth and Leah

And here we see her dunking on Alan

Here with Uncle George and me

Mom and Aunt Yvonne

Here she is with me... not too many pics out there of her with Sonny.  I'm just sayin...

Daniel with Aunt Yvonne - Maybe The Wife is right... maybe I shouldn't watch Rocky with him

I'm not 100% sure when this was taken... I think that's Susie with her but it could be Mary Ruth

Here with MR, Daniel and Susie

Organizing pictures with Mom and The Wife at Teri's old house

I think we know who these people are by now

Really wish we'd taken more... And fyi, if we tried this now you wouldn't be able to see Mom

Mom and Aunt Yvonne with Deeny and other cousins

At a Clemson graduation, I think

Hey, I found one with her and Sonny

Here she is with DG (not sure when this was taken)

With Terry, Teresa Lynn and Mom

Another pic with cousins

Working at the Lake House

With Daniel

Family pic

In New York City on a family vacation

With Mom (part of the same vacation)

You can take the girl out of Knightsville, but you can't take the rifle from the girl

With Mom at one of Sonny's baseball games

With Ansley and Meredith

Aunt Yvonne with Susan

Here we have one last video to share... a special one from me and Maverick. It's a little dark, but at Aunt Yvonne's age we figured she wouldn't be able to see it anyway.    :)