On my 20th birthday (1975), I drove from Frostburg State College to downtown Pittsburgh…

…because I love downtowns and they had both a Gimbel’s and a Kaufmann’s—iconic downtown landmarks. About two years later, I met Jerry who was from Washington, PA. That was it.

Now 50 years later, Kaufmann’s has been converted into apartments and guess who lives there? It’s got amenities galore, including a rooftop dog park bigger than my back yard and is centrally located to everything.

I always wanted to live there, but it never worked out for us and then it was too late. When Jerry passed away, I felt the need to go home ...and I felt Pittsburgh calling. We spent over 25 years traveling from DC to PGH for holidays, ball games, and family visits. One of the Main Street conferences was held there and I took a big group up to Mount Washington to Tavola’s restaurant where we held Morgan’s 16th birthday party [follow the link]. Carmela was holding court and still is today.

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