Yesterday was my childhood best friend’s birthday, his name is Willie, we called him “Nut”. Not only were we neighbors as kids, hung out together throughout our juvenile days, laughed together, fought together, played ball together, married our childhood sweethearts and had children who called us Uncle. Willie’s son married my daughter which was the topic of the neighborhood since they all thought we were related. Their children now call us Grampy and Pap. We still see each other often at family gatherings and sporting events. When we get together, we usually reminisce about the good old days and tell stories that our family members have heard ten times over… Let me paint you a picture our old neighborhood … Smithton Street! It began at Grand Avenue and ended at an alleyway that took us to Himmelstein’s Dairy and Pony ring at the entrance of Riverview Park. At one time there were at least 17 males living on the street that ranged in ages, but all were like Brothers. We had our own Softball team, Football team and rules and regulations … we were so close that many thought we were all related … and some of us were. We had our own colors, Maroon and Gold, our logo and jackets were known on the Northside of Pittsburgh. We had our boundaries and played games that were a bit dangerous at times like “Boston Baked Beans” … a game where one would hide a belt and the participants went out looking for it … when one would find the hidden belt he would yell …”Boston Baked Beans” and would/could whip anybody and everybody until they returned to base. The game would continue until someone got hit with a buckle … barbaric but confirmed the rule of survival of the fittest. We all had street names like … Nut, Animal, Juice, Harpo, Tic, Smoke, and Nino, to name a few. Some of our brothers are gone now but their memory and legacy live on … those that still live on continue to call each other by our street names and reminisce about our reign. I could write a book about the adventures of Smithton Street and many would think it was a fiction novel but we … the, Brothers of Smithton Street, will wear our colors with pride and preserve our precious memories. Let’s call the book … “Smithton Street … Revisited!”