52 Ancestors - Week 4: "Witness to History"

 This will be short and quick:

The prompt for Week 4 of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" is "Witness to History. 

I'm pleased to be able to say that I, personally, witnessed the election of our nation's first black President, Barack Hussein Obama, in 2008 and that my vote went towards putting him in office, not once, but twice! However, it is even more meaningful to me that members of my family, who lived through and personally experienced all the years of the Civil Rights movement (during which I was a child) were also able to vote for and see President Obama take the highest office in the land.

Photo source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/barack-obama/

In that light, I am featuring photos of two of my family members who lived to proudly see our first black President and his beautiful family take residence in the White House.

This is my "aunt," Ruby Powell Greene, wife of my late cousin, Judge George Royster Greene,

at an event prior to Mr. Obama becoming President.

And, this is my late mother, Mary Anne Hill Yarborough,  just after she had cast her vote (for the second time) for President Barack Hussein Obama.

There've been so many witnesses to history in my family, and even a few history makers, themselves. Stay tuned for upcoming posts - and feel free to read back over previous posts - to learn more!

Thanks for reading!

Renate

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Merry Christmas in Heaven, Mom

Two years ago, in the wee hours of Christmas morning, my mom left this Earth to be with Jesus. I miss her so much!

My daughters and I paid a visit to her grave on Christmas Eve, and adorned it in holiday style.

Merry Christmas in heaven, Mom!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Skyping on Christmas

My mom (in my office/den) skyping with my daughter (in Paris) on Christmas Day.

Maryanne's Birthday - Bringing Family Together!

This past Wednesday, March 23rd, was my mother's 77th birthday. On Sunday prior, I hosted a little celebration in her honor, which was attended by her siblings, their spouses, a cousin, and my oldest brother, Ed. It's difficult for me to write much about the dynamics of this side of my family, because I am innately guided by the mantra, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." Not only did my father reiterate this phrase over and over again during my childhood, but I also heard it each morning on the radio station. I didn't realize (or remember) until searching for the exact voice to link into this post, that this was a line from the movie, Bambi!
Anyway, the gathering was a complete success, and my mother was truly happy to see her family members all together. It was a long day for her, and she was tired by the time we started taking pictures, but I do have a couple to share.

Mom was wide awake and excited about the "surprises" I had in store for her.

My brother, Ed, helping mom read one of her cards.

Mom with her sister, Gwen, and brother, Howell. (I forgot to get the 7's for the cake, so I used the number one to indicate that she is the #1 Mom!)

Maryanne Hill Hoggard Yarborough was born March 23, 1934 to parents Daniel W. and Mary Hill.  I thank God for allowing her to celebrate another birthday!

Mysterious Monday

A while back, I started using this Monday theme on my blog, but I didn't keep up with it.  Anyway, I'm going to give it another try!  Mysterious Monday (for me) will involve posting pictures that I have questions about and/or writing posts about my "mystery" ancestors, whom I can't seem to find any (or enough) information about!

Today, I'm sharing two pictures.  The first is of my dad, Arthur P. Yarborough, Sr., with an athletic team at Nash County Training School, where he attended high school.  My dad had left Louisburg and moved to Nash county to live with his uncle, Dr. William Lawrence Green.  From what I can gather, young Arthur may have been starting to get a little too rambunctious for his widowed mother to handle alone, so she sent him off to live with her brother and his family, where he would be under the hand (probably literally) of a man. :)



I've grown up seeing this picture all my life, but never asked about it.  I've always assumed it to be a basketball team, but recently, upon inspecting the photo more carefully, I took note of the fact that all of the guys, except for my dad (#10), were wearing knee pads.  Also, there are only four on the team (if this is a complete picture),and the guys' shorts have belt-loops on them.  All of this has led me to wonder if perhaps this might've been another type of team, and not basketball, as I'd been thinking.  My guess is that it could have been a wrestling team.  I don't recall ever hearing my dad talk of wrestling, but then again, he never really talked about his high school years at all.  I do know that my second-oldest brother, Henry, wrestled in high school, and my dad was really "into" it, so....

The second picture is of my mom Maryanne, and two other women, apparently about to enjoy a holiday meal together. (My mom is on the right.) I don't know where this was taken, nor who the other women are, and when I asked my mother about it, she couldn't remember.  (This is the first time she has not been able to tell me about  a picture.)  My guess is that the picture was probably taken in either Germany (most likely) or Ohio, while my mom was a young Army wife.  I'm thinking that maybe these three women had prepared the meal together, since they were away from their families.  If the picture was taken in Germany, it would have been Bremerhaven, between 1957-1961.  If it's Ohio, it would have been Cleveland, between 1961-1963.  I do know that this is not our dining room furniture, so it is definitely at the home of one of the other women. Also, even though I'm calling it a "meal", I really only see finger-type foods that I can identify, so perhaps this could have even been for some kind of club meeting or something.  I just don't know...

If anyone has ideas about either of these pictures, feel free to comment.  I imagine the first one will be easier for me to find out about than the second, if I can ever get hold of a yearbook from my dad's alma mater.  Thanks for reading!

Renate