Pittsburgh

I don't have a lot of memories of Pittsburgh, I was only three.  However, I do remember the condo we were in and Uncle John was just a baby.  Rags, our dog was there too.  He didn't like me too much, but for some reason he liked John a lot.  He would always sleep in his room. I was jealous of course.  That was until Rags got sick.  He had bad diarrhea for about a week and there were shit stains all over the carpet in John's room.  I never went back in there after that even though Mom and Dad did their best to clean it up.

One time my parents took me to a concert at the symphony hall in the city.  I can't remember exactly what it was, but I remember liking the music.  My father loved classical music and of course I liked it too when I was little.  Well there came a point in time where the big drums came out (now that I think of it, it may have been the 1812 Overture) for cannons.  It was so loud that I just screamed out, "Get me out of here!!!"  My father looked at me and told me to relax, but he changed quick when he saw my face because I was about to have a meltdown.  He took me out of the hall until after that portion and then I returned with no incident thereafter.

I don't remember having a lot of friends, but my mother kept telling me later I was well-liked, at least by the teachers.  They all thought I was very smart, but I didn't notice anything really.  I just remember going to preschool and doing different things.  I really don't remember much at all really.  I just woke up, went to school, and did my thing.  I wish I could tell you more about it, but that's all I can really remember.  All I have left from that is a simple Christmas ornament I made with my photo with Mom in the middle.

One of my fondest memories was the big blizzard in 1978.  I just know the year because I was 3, and of course, now being a meteorologist I had to look it up.  There was at least 2 feet of snow on the ground and I couldn't get enough.  Outside the front door of our condo, there was a small brick terrace that dropped a couple feet.  Of course, with all that snow, it didn't look like it.  However, Mom would throw me into the snow bank and I loved it.  I never wanted it to stop.  Of course we only did that one day because the next day the snow was all compacted.

We spent about a year there, and then we moved back to New York.  I didn't want to leave as those are the first real memories I have.  However, my father was only there for a while.  On the trip back, we got a U-Haul and my grandfather would take turns driving the car and the U-Haul.  I think my mom flew back with John because I don't remember them being with us.  I do remember stopping for lunch (or dinner) and I wanted a can of root beer.  I loved the stuff and could never get enough.  I chugged it and I remember my father saying, "Jim, don't drink it that fast, you will get sick."  I thought he was crazy, how could you get sick on root beer?  It's delicious!!!

Well, about an hour later I didn't feel well while riding in the car with my dad.  After a few minutes, I projectile vomited all over the dashboard and the front passenger seat.  My father wasn't too happy as it absolutely reeked inside the car, and we were in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.  I do remember him pulling off to the side of the road and finding a farm house a few minutes later.  The lady in the farmhouse was really nice and helped my father clean up my mess.  After that, I swore I wouldn't drink root beer that fast ever again.  One, I felt bad, and two, I wasted good root beer!