June 25 - McKeesport

A death in the family jostled us in a bumpy plane to Pittsburgh.
McKeesport to be specific.
It's a steeler town.
Though the steel was shooed away decades ago.
There's poverty for sure.
I can't tell if its a proud poverty or just a quiet poverty.
It seems calmer than Chicago's version.
But maybe it was just another slow day.

We drove past ghost bars, vacant roller rinks, and a crumbling but functioning newspaper building, hanging on by a vowel.
Large, cheap, cozy looking homes lined the green hills.
I like McKeesport.

Our driver from the airport told us about all the celebrities he's driven.
Burt Bacharach, The Who, Richard Simmons...
He also coaches one of Pittsburgh's three women's football teams.
They were to play the West Virginia Bruisers the next day.
"Oh boy, let me tell ya. Those are some of the ugliest women I have ever seen."

There was a funeral home that we entered.
Inside, we spent some quality time with family and friends, and then exited.

I got to know the family some more at Tillie's, a McKeesport institution for Italian dining since 1962. Lauren enjoyed homemade fettucini with a salad, while I wolfed down homemade spaghetti with hot Italian sausage and Italian wedding soup. It was all very delicious.

Lauren's family is very cool.
They seem to like me.
I like them, too.

I'm not quite family yet.
Though getting down on one knee during the wake seemed inappropriate.
Plus I don't have a ring.
Or a career that screams "husband material."

I like McKeesport though.

Verdict: Win

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