One wedding and a funeral

One of my friends from college came up from Music City, USA to visit us this past weekend for a wedding that was in town. This was the first time that he has ever been to our city and he had a couple of observations about the 'Burgh and life in general.

1. "PNC Park is awesome." I would have to agree. He has had an obsession (and I mean OBSESSION) with baseball since he was little. Case in point - he watches baseball on 2 televisions at the same time at their house. His son's middle name is named after some obscure St. Lous Cardinals' player from the 1930's or something. He has a special scorecard that he uses to take score at all baseball games. He and my husband went to watch the Pirates lose (again) but enjoyed a nice guys' night out on the town, including some watered down Coors Light, apparently.

2. "The houses are really close together." I never really thought about it before, but I suppose I am so used to the proximity to your neighbors that I don't even notice it. He went to visit a grad school buddy in Regent Square and was shocked that the houses were about 2 feet apart without any land behind them.

3. "Your daughter is really cute." But, of course. She usually takes a bit to warm up to people and it was like she had known him all of her life. He has a little boy a few months older than the Kid and she must have sensed the Daddy vibe on him because she was like his shadow. I told him that it will make her a really good defender when she starts playing soccer in a few years (not that I am projecting my hopes on her or anything).

4. "We stick together." While my friend was in town, the mother of another friend from college passed away from a long bout with cancer. I found out that he made a pact with his college roommates that if any of their parents passed away, at least one of them would be there for the funeral. The guys have made twice previously when other rommates' mothers passed away a few years ago. Since he was relatively close by to the location of the funeral, he had one roommate from Indiana pick up another roommate in Columbus, swing by Pittsburgh and pick him up so that they can go to Rochester for the funeral. It was great to see some buddies from college and have them meet the Kid. It was also a testament to the type of friendships that we formed in college. We're all a little heavier, balder, older, hopefully a little wiser.