This past week I lost someone very dear to me - my great-aunt Yvonne.

She was the youngest sister of my grandmother, who I call Nanny. Their other two siblings have already passed away so Aunt Von and Nanny were extra close in the last few years.

Aunt Vonne was always a kidder. Every Christmas, she would bring her family to Alabama (they lived in Apopka, Florida) and she would bring her sisters gag gifts. Anyway, one year it was red long underwear with the butt flap, one year it was giant panties, "fake" perfume, you name it. Thing is, they always posed for pictures with their gifts.

(I wish I had the pictures to post, but my mother has them.)


Aunt Vonne's laugh was so musical. She had the sweetest southern accent I had ever heard. Very gentile. I am going to miss that laugh. She had a way of making you feel right at home.


She took care of me when I lived in Florida and was working for Disney on their College Program. Every week, I'd visit and do my laundry. I always got yelled at for being late. LOL


One year, when I was a little girl, I stayed with Aunt Vonne for a few weeks. My cousin, Kim, and I are about the same age, so we had a blast playing outside. They had just dug a hole for an underground pool and there was a huge mound of sandy dirt sitting next to it, so Kim and I decided to play on it and in it.


We dug, and crawled, and slid... Aunt Vonne took one look at us and turned a hose on us. Wouldn't let us in the house we were so dirty.


She also let us play the record player over and over again. We listened to ABBA, to Grease, anything disco. Kim and I took turns being Sandy and Danny.


She has granddaughters that will miss her terribly. They are all young and haven't had the joy of having her around as long as I have had my Nanny. Bless their hearts. It's going to be hard for them.


So, goodbye, Aunt Vonne. You are loved and missed.