A Pittsburgh Tribute

We unlocked the door of the small basement nestled between several elegant churches and the University of Pittsburgh campus. A waft of curry struck our noses as we entered the echoing white rooms we would call home. Our first home together, in fact. We’d left behind everything we’d been accustomed to before—our family and friends, every state we’d ever called home, and our designation as single people. A mere one week married, we were embarking on our lives together in a foreign city.

That was nine weeks ago. As Bryce observed yesterday, we’ve spent nine times more of our married lives in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. We’ve grown to love this city. After a few weeks, the curry smell even dissipated from the apartment. And, while we were less than fond of Pittsburgh traffic and roads that caused more than their fair share of adrenaline rushes, we at least now will always be grateful for the traffic patterns in good old Charlottesville.

We never thought we’d call Pittsburgh home. But now we have. And now, in just a couple hours, we are going to leave behind the 400-some-odd bridges that adorn the city and Pittsburgh will melt from home into precious memory as we begin the next Virginian chapter of our lives. And we’re really going to miss this city with its bustling roads and three stunning rivers.

We’ll miss the 8:13 call to Mass from the cathedral across the street that would wake us up on Saturday mornings (and occasionally on weekday mornings . . . but somehow we always managed to make it on-time to our 9:00 classes and meetings). That cathedral was one of the most stunning ones I’ve seen, and a welcoming landmark for us as we returned from various excursions.

We’re going to miss our firefly field; that beautiful place we loved to go at twilight to watch the fireflies burst from the ground in streaks of light. (As Pokemon Go became popular, we suddenly had many guests at our beloved firefly field as hordes of college students congregated there, not to watch the glorious little twinkles of light, but to catch imaginary monsters on their phones. But fortunately all of our new friends were engrossed in their screens and probably didn’t even notice the newlywed couple standing in the middle of the field, lost in the beauties of nature and love.)

We’ll miss the proximity that we’ve enjoyed to LDS Church history sites. Weekend trips to Palmyra, New York and Kirtland, Ohio were sacred privileges that we relished. And the stops along the way to Niagra Falls and Lake Erie were a nice bonus.

We’re going to miss the rows of skinny, three-story houses with their antiquated exteriors. We’ll miss the cute little backyards and alleyways between and behind these historic homes.

I’m going to miss the eight minute walk to my 9:00 class every morning that allowed me to wake up to those 8:13 Mass bells on occasion without penalty.

I’m going to miss the 150 hours I spent in that second floor classroom in the Cathedral of Learning, trying to remember the palatalization differences between Ukrainian and Russ

ian. And still sounding Russian anyway as my tongue strove to contort into the shapes of the new language I was learning. I treasure the joy I felt as my ability to converse in Ukrainian grew, the payoff of all those hours spent in the library or at our kitchen table memorizing hundreds of Ukrainian words and grammar structures.

Bryce is going to miss those exciting hours of discovering how to code in Python and C++, unlocking doors of opportunity and discovering a passion for programming. (Proud wife moment: He published his first app! You can get it here if you want it. Which you obviously do. Because it’s really cool and scientific and technical.)

We’re going to miss the wonderful people we met here. We were both blessed in our summer programs to forge meaningful relationships and learn a great deal from those around us. We’ll miss the wonderful families in our ward who invited us over for dinners, or who let us stay in their basement apartment when our contract ended three days before Bryce’s internship.

We’re going to miss the little kids at church. Bryce and I were delighted when we were asked to help with the nursery children every week. Stay together for two hours and play with babies? Yes, please! It brought me no end of delight to see my husband interacting with the little kids, begging for his attention and giggling as he played with them. We’ll miss the little kid who said, “Bryce, you’re my best friend. Will you go to school with me?” And the little boy who painted us a farewell picture. Those little ones made us so happy.

We’ll miss our sunset walks along the rivers. Towering skyscrapers. The inclines on Mt. Washington that overlook the city and its three rivers. The seabusses that take you around Pittsburgh. The friends we met here. The things we learned.

The more I experience of life, the more I realize that God really places you exactly where you need to be. When Bryce and I were applying for summer programs several months ago, we had no idea how much we could learn or the blessings that would come into our lives from living in a city neither of us had ever been to before. We couldn’t have imagined the people we would meet, the places we would see. The incredible blessings and opportunities afforded to us here are only matched by the cherished memories we will take away from our newlywed time in Pittsburgh.

Thanks, Pittsburgh. We’ll miss you.