You are the best, one of a kind.

Dear Carolyn,

Happy Birthday! You are the best, one of a kind. Allow me to answer a few of the questions Big Mike posted:

Q: What are the top 3 qualities I love about Carolyn?

A:
1. Her energy
2. Her loyalty
3. Her uncanny sense for people

Carolyn has an AMAZING sense for people. Combine that with her smarts, her energy and her sense of humor, and you have a PHENOM on your hands. Add her warmth and loyalty, and you have a GREAT FRIEND who is so much fun to be around.

Q:What is a little known fact about Carolyn that you can share?

A:She was a pretty bad dancer in high school. (Actually that's not true.)

Q: The song that reminds me of Carolyn is ______:

A: Super Freak, by Rick James

Q:I can always count on Carolyn to ______:
A: Tell the truth. And bring a smile.

Q:When I first met Carolyn I thought she was_____:
A: Really cute and so much fun (that was the perspective of this ninth grade boy).

Q:The nicest thing Carolyn ever did for me was _____:

A:It's not one thing she did, but a quality that Carolyn has, that I'm sure others can attest to-- with Carolyn, you get the feeling that she is a huge fan of yours. Well Carolyn, the feeling's mutual -- I am a HUGE FAN of yours, as are so many others!

Happy Birthday!

Paul Mahoney

This is Quite Unbelievable

And to all of you who have sent blogs, I can only tell you that as I sit here reading them, I have tears running down my cheeks.

Love to all,

Carolyn's Dad

The Snitch

Back when 5 years age difference was a big deal, Carolyn was a cool senior and I was an adorable eighth grader.

At the time I fancied myself somewhat of a talented detective; I was constantly collecting clues, taking note of unusual activities and memorizing suspicious license plates. That year, it was reported that a creepy man had come to the school and "flashed" a couple girls. In the announcements that were sent home and were posted around school, a few vague details were given to describe this man and his getaway bike. As you can imagine, with my sleuthing skills and those of my associate Mercedes McAndrew, we took catching the criminal very seriously. We just wanted to contribute - maybe we could assist in doing descriptions for one of those criminal sketches. Who knew?

So at lunchtime one day, we went out by the playgrounds and sat on the other side of some bushes so we weren't visible from school. As you can imagine, middle school girls were not allowed outside at this time. We were forced to go a bit outside of the law. In the end, we figured, we'll be heroes and they'll forget all about this dumb rule.

As we're nestled on in our look-out spot who comes back from lunch and sees us sitting outside - this Carolyn you all speak of so kindly. She probably noticed that there were no other kids outside on the whole campus and so she asked, "What are you girls doing out here?" We confided in her, "We're looking for the flasher." "I think you two better get back inside," she said. So we did.

I may not have remembered any of this story if it had not been for where I landed the next school morning - the principal's office! I don't think Mercedes was the leak. You catch my drift here?

Big love to you Carolyn. Many hugs and kisses on your birthday.

Esther

We feel so blessed to have her influence so many friends and family

I decided not to read the other blogs so that I wouldn’t be influenced by others.

I’m sure they are filled with comments about fun people have had with Carolyn, about being able to talk to her when you have a problem, about her desire to extend herself to all who need her help, and on and on.

I want to talk as a father about her ability to handle any challenge that arises. After all, she delivered one of our seventeen beautiful grandchildren. Who else can say they helped deliver a niece? No one but Carolyn.

Who else can have teenage boys think that Latin is fun? No one but Carolyn.

Carolyn’s enthusiasm and love of all around her is so infectious that I stand in awe that we brought up someone with all of this love for life.

We feel so blessed to have her influence so many friends and family.

Love you,

Dad

Carolyn, The Buonanno Family Glue Guy

In every successful team there is the glue guy, the person who brings it all together; the unsung hero. This is the person who does the little things right. The glue guy is loved by the fans and adored by teammates because of their unselfishness and quiet heroics. On this year 40th birthday I nominate Carolyn as the Buonanno family glue guy. You make it click. You do a thousand little things that make our lives better, whether it’s a timely e-mail, an open invitation to vent (when you have hundreds of things going on in your own life) or a smart ass remark in a tense moment, you make it happen. Glue guys make the world go ‘round. But just because you’re turning 40 doesn’t mean you can slow down because who knows what would happen if you stopped. With that I hope you celebrate and supercharge yourself for the next 40 years of glue guy stardom!
Love,

Your Favorite Outlaw, Sean

Happy Birthday Carolyn!

Happy Birthday to my ......sweeeeeet Carolyn....uh oh oh..... Good times never felt so good, so good, so good!, so good!. Okay wrong name, wrong spelling - not even close-

How ahr ya? Tahoylk to me - cuarenta anos-

the big 4-0,

2 - score ,

14,600 days or...

350,400 hours or....

21 million minutes or....

1.2 billion seconds...

on the planet dude - too far out there for me to contemplate - totally freaks with my mind.

hey this blogging stuff is a killer app - big props to Mickey C for pulling this rad dealio off

fired up for you coolio callie

It is with inestimable appreciation, I bid you these salutations on this wondrous occasion.

Fondly,

John Madison Shue

Happy Birthday, Pardner!

Happy Birthday, Carolyn! Hope you and the family had a blast in Disneyworld, and sorry we're delinquent in getting this posted!
Love, J&J

What are the top 3 qualities I love about Carolyn?
Sense of humor, fun-loving spirit, devotion to her family (especially The Big Guy).

What is a little known fact about Carolyn that you can share?
I forget exactly where the tattoo is but Mike should know.

The song that reminds me of Carolyn is anything from The Crash Test Dummies. After our 10th class reunion in 1994 (not Carolyn's of course, she is way too young), we all went to Block Island for a getaway. Carolyn and Mike played "God Shuffled His Feet" virtually non-stop and whenever I hear a song from that album (not a very common occurence) I am transported back to the days of Block Island and the OJ Simpson car chase (we were glued to the TV set).

What is the one thing Carolyn should do during her 40th year: Buy her husband a very nice 47th birthday gift. He's getting up there, and he deserves it.

How would you answer the following:

I can always count on Carolyn to tell a good story.

When I first met Carolyn I thought she was way out of reach for someone like Mike.

The nicest thing Carolyn ever did for me was to be extraordinarily charitable in the line calls during a doubles match last year. I'm an extremely pathetic tennis "player," and while Joan and Mike were laughing Carolyn was giving me [false] hope that I could actually hit the ball inside the lines.

Who will be in the White House 1/20/09 (I couldn't resist putting this in!)? President Obama and Vice President Dodd.