Rewind, Fast Forward

I have a hard time looking at these pictures.  For the last two years I've halfheartedly taken cursory glances through pictures taken during Labor Day Weekend, 2011, but I haven't really been able to post them on here, even though I felt it was really important to do so.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011, Hans and I went to Baltimore for the first time, mostly to meet up with my friend Amber and her fiance.  I hadn't seen Amber in about eight years, so it was a pretty emotional moment for me but also wonderful.  At the time the city was hosting the first Baltimore Grand Prix, so navigating the closed-of streets was a challenge, but we had a good time visiting a few of the historic ships at the harbor: USS Constellation and USS Torsk.

On September 4th, we got up early and drove to Williamsburg, VA, with the intention of staying the night and then spending Labor Day in Jamestown.  I remember that the drive was pleasant, but once we paid the admission to the historic district Hans was overcome with an awful headache because the daylight was unbelievably bright.  There was a mild haze in the air that intensified the sun and the gravelly roads were a light color, so there was no escape, even in the shade.  With my sunglasses on it was at times difficult to see.  I was able to keep up a good mood but Hans was uncharacteristically bothered all day.

 

Once we'd checked into our motel at the end of the day, I saw I had 4 missed text messages and phone calls from various family members and a dire voice message.  Hans was just exiting the room to find the ice machine as I was calling my sister back and I frantically told him that I thought I was about to get some very bad news.

That's when I found out my brother had died that morning.

So, here we are today.  When I look at the picture of myself being silly in Williamsburg I feel strange because while I was posing in Virginia the police in Alaska were on their way to my parent's house and I was hours away from receiving terrible news.

It took me two years to feel like going back to Baltimore again because of the cloud of negativity associated with that weekend.

Anyway.  

I felt like it was time to share these photos but with some perspective.