Franco and Me

I walked outdoors with Helen and there he was, this tall attractive man helping the volunteers with the chairs. It was a warm evening, and he must have been sweating in his sportscoat. When he saw Helen and I, he walked over with a genuine smile on his face. At this point, he was living up to my "hero" standards.

With a firm handshake, I was introduced to Franco Harris, living legend in Pittsburgh sports. He told me that I would be following him around, taking photo's of the people he wanted shots of. He then said he wanted some candid and setup shots - I went to work with a cherished camera, Pete's.

I moved around the room taking in the sights and smells this event was throwing at me. The flowers on the 50 foot bar were so fragrant I could imagine the bees starting to congragate wanting some of the sweet nectar.

There was Chinese food and summer wraps for dinner complimented with only the best wines and liquors. Dessert consisted of bananas foster with delicious ice cream. Unfortunately, I had no time for food, neither did Franco.

We started the evening off by greeting people at the door. I hung around for about half an hour, then he shooed me away. The line needed to move faster and with me taking photo's, it wasn't.

When he was done with the meet and greet, I started following him around, staying about 10 feet away at all times. It is really strange, but he knew where I was at all times. When he wanted a shot, he motioned to me and I tookd the shot.

This took place from 7:30 to midnight and the entire time I was worried about whether or not the photo's would turn out. My feet hurt, but I kept at it.

The entire time I was with him, I kept thinking what a wonderful marriage he and his wife, Dana, have. Here is this man, that women flock to be around, and his wife seemed fine with it. He always made sure to include her in the festivities (they had an auction) and even took time out from dancing with the hot women to dance with his wife.

At the end of the evening, I lost him but heard he was out on the terrace. I packed up my stuff (I was really tired and had an hour drive ahead of me) and went outside for one last photo. See, at the beginning of the night, he promised me a picture of him and I together, I wasn't leaving without that picture.

As I walked outside, he asked if I was leaving. I told him I would stick around if he needed me to, but he said "no." I asked him for that photo and he was more than happy to oblige. So here I was, around around my hero, his arm around me. I felt so important at that moment that I couldn't help but smile.

As I walked to the car, my feet started really hurting, but all I could think about was what a great time I had. I was given a dream job for a night and I was glad I didn't pass it up.

Some of you may or may not know, but Franco was a Steeler in the 1970's. He was responsible for the emaculate reception sending us to our first Super Bowl. He is a hero in the city of Pittsburgh and to all in the Steeler Nation.

The Breakup Song

It's been a week of breakups for people in my family.

It started with my brother and his wife. I knew they were having problems, and I know he wasn't happy, but I was shocked when I heard she had moved out.

It's not to say that I am not happy about this (yes, I am a bitch) but Kelli has not been nice since she landed Greg. She has outright lied about my mom to Greg. For instance, Mom went in and had her hair higlighted. Mom asked how much it was, Kelli replied, "don't worry about it." So mom left. In the meantime, Kelli called my brother and said that "your mom walked out without paying."

It is things like this that have put a bitter taste in our mouths. She started calling Mom around Easter telling her stuff about Greg, then last week, she called me whining, complaining, along with accusations of abuse. He's my brother and we both have the same temper (gotta love those Germans), but we both need pushed really hard to get mad. So, when she tells me this, I assume that she had pushed him to the edge. I later found out that she had hit him which caused him to grab her wrist - funny how there are two sides to each story and she conveniently left that out.

At this point I had enough and told her that maybe Greg was doing all this "stuff" (flirting with the neeighbor) to get back at her for all the rotten things she had done to him. I then gave her examples - it didn't go over to well, but at least she listened to what I said.

I continued by telling her that Greg chose her over his childhood friends - which I later found out, was something Greg had recently told her and she didn't believe.

The other breakup came as a surprise, but didn't.

Ben had been dating Alana for three years. They met at a baseball game when he was 19 and she was 15. Needless to say, I wasn't real keen on the age difference thing, only becuase he had just gotten out of some serious trouble and I was concerned that he would get in trouble becuase she was underage.

Anyway, they dated and on weekends her parents would let him spend the night at their house, in her bed, remember she is underage at this point.

Time goes by and they get engaged, but he is afraid to tell anyone. Gordon told him that if they were that much in love, then he should be happy about spreading the news.

This was a year and a half ago, and I thought all was well in lala land. They came to family events together, her parents have invited us there and vice versa. They are really great people and a lot of fun to be around.

I noticed, though, in the past few months they seemed to have been drifiting apart. They weren't clingy like before and often sat apart on the sofa, which is coming a long way from wearing the same pair of undies (just a saying, not really).

I knew things were bad when Jon's (Gordon's other son) fiance, Amie, told me that Ben and Alana were arguing over moving in together. I had always thought that living together would make or break the situation, but I didn't think that they wouldn't make it to move in day.

In a way, I am happy about the breakup because he is still in school and she is starting in the fall. They both need time to mature and be with other people.

I guess I saw myself in the same situation, dating seriously at 19 and getting married at 21. Now, there is a maturity different between a 15 year old and someone that's 19, but I still missed out on a lot by being with one person.

Don't get me wrong, I would still marry Gordy, but I would have had more fun and did things with my friends instead of feeling oblagated to be with him 24/7. All in all, I think we came out of it fine, considering me being childish at times.

Oh well, I hope he got the ring back. At least he can sell it on eBay.

I'm off to dinner with the hubby and a group of people from work...