TBW Daily Diary

Happy Birthday to Angela Lawson . . . this is a somewhat sad day in our city's history since Laura Vecsey has published her last column in the Patriot-News. Her reporting was something special and for almost two years she has exposed the behind-the-scenes antics at city hall. Hers was the one byline that no one ever passed over; we can only hope that the newspaper finds a new reporter as diligent as Laura has been. I have been told that she is headed to the west coast for a while but in her farewell to us she has promised to return if things don't work out for her there . . . I had spoken to her once without knowing her identity, but it is strange how events turn mysteriously in our lives. I was playing trick-or-treat with JJ in his Camp Hill neighborhood; the kid liked the decorations but was somewhat shy about asking for a handout; Daddy Eric told JJ that the reason for the plastic pumpkin bucket he was carrying was to gather treats and that he should be filling it up. So my godson and I made a serious effort to collect some goodies to make dad happy and we happened upon this very nice lady with whom I had a pleasant conversation while JJ went to the house next door. I did not know the lady's name . . . let's skip ahead by almost a year. My downtown neighbors Alex Tokatlian and Alyson Garcia are to be married in September and they have rented a West Shore home soon to be empty. Alyson described the location and—yep, you guessed it—it was the same house I had visited and, yes, they are renting Laura's property. So it really is a small world full of unexpected twists . . .