Africa, London and Pittsburgh?

There were many strange circumstances surrounding my birth over 3 decades ago.  First of all, my mother thought that she was dying and so did my father, but she wasn’t.  It was just a little morning sickness from her first born- me!  Native Pittsburghers, living in London, they had limited knowledge of the medical care in the UK.  The doctor came to the hotel, “No you’re not dying, just pregnant.” I was conceived in Africa, discovered in London and raised in Pittsburgh.

Now, at least in my mind, they had a choice.  Stay in London and raise me there–dual citzenship, a proper British education and travel all around Europe is what I imagined.  Or the other option was to return to Pittsburgh and raise their daughter around family, black n’ gold, steel mills and plenty of fried foods.  I got the second.  In fact, I arrived on January 21, 1979 on the day of Super Bowl XIII.  You might remember.  The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas for their third Superbowl win (click here if you would like to relive a bit of that win).  I almost wasn’t delivered. More on that later, though.

So I grew up, moved away and moved back–making me a boomeranger.   You learn so much the second time around!  Although it was a rough adjustment, I have found that Pittsburgh has some pretty unique experiences to offer.  Some good. Some not-so-good.  Some just plain bizarre.

For the die-hard fans here’s another classic moment from that glorious Superbowl era:

Stay tuned for my next post: “Does This Steelers Jersey Make Me Look Fat?”

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