A Belated Father's Day Gift

The day after my dad died, Richard Pryor died. I heard about it the next day on CBS Sunday Morning, a show I watched nearly every Sunday with my parents when I was a kid. The first thing I thought was "Rain Pryor doesn't have a daddy." And then I remembered that I didn't have a daddy either. It was one of those moments when I could almost wrap my head around what happened -- when the enormity of losing my father seemed almost grasp-able.

My dad will most likely never be featured on Sunday Morning, but this week my copy of the book Pittsburgh Born, Pittsburgh Bred arrived. The entry about my father (its below, you can click on it to make it bigger) is quite possibly the nicest thing ever written about him. I wouldn't say it's a complete picture of his life, but it is certainly an accurate account of his time at CCAC, or "The College," as we called it in my family. He would have loved it. It may not be Sunday Morning, but it's pretty sweet.

I was just thinking. . .

Pittsburgh is your dad.
When people make fun of him, you jump to his defense.

But you know what they are saying is true.
You say it, too, but you're allowed.

And he has your back.


New York is your cool older brother.
No one understands him and people don't really try.
They roll their eyes, but you know they're jealous.

You try to understand him, and sometimes you get him, but not always.
It doesn't matter, you defend him anyways.

He doesn't really have your back,
but only because he knows you need to make it on your own.


Los Angeles is your mom's best friend's daughter who
you're supposed to call when you get to town.
She's pretty.

You hit it off, but you're drinking so you don't know if it's real.
She tells you lots of cool things, but you suspect she could be exaggerating.

If someone told you something bad about her,
you might not believe them,
but you wouldn't jump to her defense.

It could work out,
you do like her,
you could be friends,
but she's not family, not yet.

She certainly doesn't have your back.

(This post is a metaphor, all similarities to actual people are purely coincidental.)

(Photos of Pittsburgh and New York City by Matt Cohen, Photo of LA/Santa Monica by me.)