Several of the most important events in Sonny Corinthos' life happened before we first saw him on screen in Port Charles: His father abandoning the family; his mother marrying Deke Woods; Sonny being forced to leave home at the age of 16; and, Sonny being taken under the wing of mob boss Joe Scully.

But many critical moments also occurred later in Sonny's life...and we saw them unfold in front of our eyes. ABC.com (look under "Videos") is doing a special presentation of the "Ten Most Pivotal Moments" in Sonny's life...this is my version, but I couldn't limit it to ten! Many of these moments aren't pretty, but they all significantly contributed to who Sonny is today.

The events are in chronological order (more or less!)

(images courtesy of sonnycorinthos.com, sonnybrenda.com, and sonnybrenda-media.com)

Although they'd met before...when Sonny ran into Brenda on the docks, carrying all her belongings, something shifted inside him. He knew then and there that he had to have the beautiful young woman in his life. And it turned out to be one of the most important relationships he'd ever have.

Although Sonny didn't pull the trigger, he did inform Luke Spencer of Frank Smith's whereabouts, allowing Luke to settle an old score. Smith's death propelled Sonny to the top of the mob food chain, and gave him a tremendous amount of power.

Sonny last saw his father at the Belmont Stakes racetrack. Many years had passed, and Mike Corbin (as he was now known) decided to look up his son in Port Charles. Sonny was less than pleased to see the man who had left him, as a child, in the hands of an abusive step-father. Years of struggling to find some sort of palatable relationship ensued.

This was Sonny's first experience with being betrayed by a woman he had given his heart to. Unfortunately, it wasn't his last. It also allowed an opening for Lily Rivera to move in and establish her own place in Sonny's life.