Throwback Thursday - Janelle

This is what I journaled back on 5/19/2004 - before I had a blog.

This is the story of Mark and Janelle:

They met in January of 2003 where they were both working at Providence Hospital.  They started dating in March of 2003 and broke up in July 2003.  They started re-dating in February of 2004 and we met her in either March or April. They came to dinner on a Wednesday evening and she remembers that we had pork chops (probably orange juice pork chops which is one of Mark's favorites).  This picture was taken in May as I was not brave enough to start taking pictures of them until a few months later. As far as Marley meeting Janelle - Marley was not quite 3, and she knew that Uncle Mark's girlfriend Janelle was coming to dinner to meet the family. As soon as Mark's car pulled up in front of the house, Marley ran out and gave her a big hug. Janelle had asked Mark if he thought Marley would be shy around her. He said that he didn't know, because he only saw her around family. I guess not. For some reason she just attached herself right to her. We were all a little surprised just how “un-shy” she was with her. Mark's theory was that Janelle reminded her of a Barbie doll. In fact, Marley named her first Barbie doll "Barbie Janelle."

This week Janelle and their 2 year old daughter Miriam were in a pretty serious car accident.  A truck ran a red light and hit her car on the passenger's side.  Thank God Miriam's car seat was on the driver's side.  Janelle's car was totalled.  They were both shaken up, Janelle more so than Miriam.  She is bruised and very sore but, thankfully, nothing was broken.

Janelle is such an important part of our family that I cannot imagine what it could have been like.  It makes me realize that none of us is guaranteed another day and that we should never take our loved ones for granted.