Today I’m posting two very different and entirely unrelated pictures for Throwback Thursday. Gotta keep you all on your toes.

This first one makes me laugh because I really don’t remember ever posing with a pig, much less with Babe himself. Judging by my hair and the maternity shirt, it was a little over 5 years ago. You’d think a girl would recall such a monumental event. I’m sure I was forced into this picture by my loving husband because of the fact that I can imitate Babe’s voice pretty spot on. Its not something I whip out on demand, but I do use it as a party pleaser at holiday family gatherings. I can’t disappoint my fans.

This second picture is almost 2 years after the first one, and is one of my least favorite in my entire collection, and I honestly wish I had the nerve to delete it permanently. This picture represents one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) times in my life. Charlie is just over two years old here.

This picture was taken at Thanksgiving, and you can see its not usually what kids wear (or rather, don’t wear) at their Thanksgiving celebrations. What you can’t see is that right next to him is all the men in our family taking a big family photo together. Charlie wanted no part of it. We took this photo to at least have a pic of him on that day, despite the way we all were feeling.

This photo represents a time when Charlie’s Autism had taken over his whole self. His whole world. He refused to wear clothing because (and I can only assume this, because he was not verbal at the time) it hurt his little body just to wear sleeves, tags, waist bands. We could never comb or cut his hair, because he couldn’t handle the sensory aspects of it without total meltdowns. He refused to be in photos, never mind smile. His world was entirely separated from everyone else. He couldn’t tolerate our world, and he couldn’t even speak to express how or why things bothered him, so he’d just scream. All. day. long. Since he couldn’t tolerate our world and we couldn’t get inside his, he was isolated. His sadness, isolation and lack of joy broke our hearts every single day.

We were blessed beyond belief shortly after that Thanksgiving. Through the financial help of both sides of our family, Charlie started intensive therapies. He got the early intervention that so many children don’t. His brain not only healed, but he learned skills to cope with his sensory problems. He isn’t entirely in our world now, but the two worlds are finally connecting. We have finally met the son that was inside that little body all along. He’s passionate, loving, and a comic at heart. He finally found joy.

I realized after writing all this, that its only fair to post a pic of him now, to compare and rejoice. Here’s Charlie this past weekend, almost 3 years after that last photo:

This week’s Throwback Thursday is bittersweet. We all leave tomorrow to head to AZ (all 5 of us! ack!) to attend funeral services for my husband’s great grandmother (”Greatma”). The picture above is of us with her the Christmas after we got married 9 years ago.

I have no idea why I was pretending to be a ghost (what is up with the blinding white skin??), but I am quite fond of my Gwyneth-Paltrow-in-”Sliding-Doors” hair. Also, I think my husband looks about 15 in this picture.

This was the last time that Greatma was really “with us”, because shortly after that Christmas she slipped into dementia. She stopped talking, and stopped even acting like she recognized anyone. You see, the year before, she had lost her beloved Charlie (my eldest son’s namesake), husband of 70 (yes seventy!) years. She had eloped with him when she was 17, and never really knew life without him. She spent the rest of that year depressed before ultimately checking out of this life, mentally. She was finally reunited with Charlie, in heaven, last Saturday, a few hours before the 10th anniversary of his death.

This picture is the whole family (hubby’s side…we are on the left), with Greatma, the matriarch, standing in the front.

We will celebrate her life with all our family this weekend, and remember the love story she shared not only with God, but also with her Charlie.

I can’t help but giggle when I look at this old picture. It was 1994, I think, and my (now) husband (the rock star on the left) and I had been “going out” (Read: dating. Except not going anywhere by ourselves. At least, that’s what I told my parents.) for about 8 or 9 months. I was 16 he was 17. He went away that summer for a long trip (ahem, 3 weeks is a lot when you are 16) to Costa Rica with his school, and when he came back we had rocky times and almost broke up (er…maybe we did break up? honey, help me out here.) because he kissed (he says she kissed him…) a Costa Rican girl when he was saying goodbye to all the students there. It was huge drama (”she slipped you tongue! OMG!”) and I thought we were over. He gave me a mixed tape that included a song by Boyz II Men called “On Bended Knee” (please tell me someone remembers that masterpiece) and the rest is history.

I think his almost kid-n-play flat top is so cute, don’t you?

A month ago we had our 9 year wedding anniversary! Here’s us on our honeymoon in 1998 in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.