What a difference a year or two or Lithium makes.

Every year we go to visit my uncle and aunt for a small family get-together/barbecue. It's always on the Sunday before Memorial Day. So, since the last two of these events were not yet memorialized in my blog, I'd better bring you up to speed!

Memorial Barbecue 2006: DH was very depressed. He came with us to my uncles, but after about a half hour of socializing (remember, in his normal state, DH is very funny, outgoing and social), he went and sat in the car. I thought I'd made him angry, but he just kept telling me he wasn't in the mood. Then he decided he was going to go and buy some cigarettes down the street, and he didn't come back for an hour. I think everyone there was wondering what was up. And I completely didn't know what to say. At this point, I really didn't have any idea that it was a mental illness, I just thought he was moody, judgmental, maybe he didn't like my family....?

Memorial Barbecue 2007: About two months after he was hospitalized for mental illness. DH said he felt much better, but this was a time when his drinking, spending, tattoos, prescription drug abuse (Percocet, to be exact), were out of control. At the time, I had little idea of the extent of the problems. DH was still working at this time, but had stopped paying any bills. All of his paychecks were going to the above-mentioned habits. He decided that my family didn't like him because they didn't ask him to play his guitar. He spent a lot of time sitting in the car "smoking". Then he had a panic attack and had to "go and get cigarettes" again for about an hour. DD had a tantrum because I asked her to leave Dad be for now.

Memorial Barbecue 2008: DH has been on Lithium for about three months now. DH cracked jokes, was very appropriate throughout the entire get-together, laughed, played his guitar, chatted with all of my relatives. He played with DD and the other kids, and in general was very much his old self. He teased me for taking too many napkins (that's always been a joke of ours) He didn't ask me once if (whoever) didn't like him. He didn't go and sit in the car. He did go to buy cigarettes, but when I took him off and asked if he was doing ok, he said he truly just had to go buy cigarettes, and he came back in 5 minutes. Wow.

Probably good that he was in such good spirits today, because there was a tornado only a few blocks from where we were, and the weather got pretty scary for a while. My mom was very nervous, and we had to keep going down in the basement, so that was rather hard on her. She was very glad to have it over with....No damage, though, to our house or my uncle's house, so that was good. I know a lot of other families weren't so lucky--one family lost a two year old child in the tornado. How very sad.