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Alumni memory
Flashback ... summer session of 1972!
By Dr. Larry Schardt ’72-’74
My first summer in college rocked. Just a couple of weeks out of high school and there I was, one of only 24 students at Pitt-Bradford.
Above, Schardt, left, goofs around with Tom “Greek” Moskos.
It didn’t take long for us to grow into being a family. A close family.
There were no secrets. We opened up our hearts, souls and feelings to our tight-knit group.
My best friends were Gino and Greek. We were inseparable, like the Three Stooges. We hung around, went to parties, listened to music and enjoyed the fi rst summer on our own. We were like bros.
If you saw one of us, you knew the other two were nearby.
At left, Schardt tops off a tower for a photo in front of the campus’s original town houses. off a tower for a photo in front of the campus’s original town houses.
That evening, a group of us were hanging around, sitting in a circle on the grass, listening to the Rolling Stones. I lit up a cigarette and the match book flap reminded me to ask.
On Sunday afternoons, I’d make my weekly call home.
On my first call, Mom said, “Larry, a friend of a friend’s son is going to school there. His name is Tom Moskos.”
“Tom who? There are only 24 of us here, Mom . . . There’s no Tom.”
Every time we’d talk, she’d ask me about this Tom guy. “You must have the wrong school.” Mom persisted. “I know there’s no Tom, but if it’ll make you happy, I’ll ask around.” I pulled out a matchbook from my pocket. I opened the inside flap . . . “How do you spell that?” Mom spelled it out as I scribbled the name.
“My mom keeps insisting her friend’s friend’s son goes here,” I rolled my eyes. “His name is Tom Moskos.”
Greek looked at me and laughed, “That’s me, man!”
How great was that? No matter what the name, friends are friends!
And, no matter what you think you know . . . Never doubt Mom!
