It was a very moving week, this past week, when the City of Pittston dedicated City Hall’s conference room in honor of 40-year-old TJ Hromisin, who was shot in the line of duty while serving our country during the Iraqi War.
Then 1st Lt. Thomas J. Hromisin, a 2001 graduate of Seton Catholic and a graduate of the University of Scranton ROTC program, was in the beginning of a very promising career in the Army before being struck down.
Since then, TJ was promoted to Captain and was awarded a Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
Now back home at Pittston, he’s in great hands with his parents Jerry and Mary Ellen. TJ’s mom told me she and TJ were learning Braille, but TJ said with today’s technology, Braille is hardly used today.
During the ceremony at City Hall, Mayor Michael Lombardo, who said he’s known TJ since he was 10 years old, gave a speech to about 40 people that started outside when TJ’s name was unveiled on the building.
We then moved into the conference room when the mayor continued. During his speech, emotions got the best of him as he stopped a few times to compose himself.
Needless-to-say, I started getting teary-eyed and I wasn’t the only one. As I looked around the room, many became weepy as well.
As the mayor said later, he doesn’t usually get that emotional while during a speech, but in this case not only knowing TJ for 30 years, it was the fact that TJ and other brave men and women that serve our country are owed so much.
Although wounded and blind by his injuries, TJ got to come home, but many did not and don’t. There is a heavy price for freedom and we all, and I mean we all, take that right for granted.
TJ paid the price of war, but thank God he conquered his injuries and manages his blindness as best as possible.
As for today’s Super Bowl, TJ said the 49ers will end on top and even though my daughter Tiffany would agree with him, I’m not so sure San Fran can beat the Chiefs and Taylor Swift.
I have to say, there have been many buildings, stadiums, and gyms that have been dedicated in honor of someone and I have to say, the City of Pittston got this one right.
TJ is a hero and deserved to be treated as such.
Congratulations TJ on having such an honor sporting your name and thank you for your service to help keeping us free.
Speaking of the City of Pittston, two more businesses opened on Main Street with Dakor Home Furnishings and Simply Lush Boutique cutting ribbons this past week.
Dakor moved down the street from its former location at 48 S. Main St., next door to Just You Salon at the Newrose Building. Obviously owner Kelly Nunez believes in Pittston and is now closer to the center of activity next to the Tomato Festival lot.
Ashley Matthews, owner and photographer at Simply Lush has been a professional photographer for nearly 20 years. Her specialty is boudoir photography she shoots at her studio now located at 212 S. Main St. at the corner of E. Frothingham and Main, next to Edward Jones financial services.
Ashley moved her studio from Plains to Pittston when she noticed the garage door at the building. She said she always imagined her studio with a garage door and as fate would have it, the storefront was vacant.
Now boudoir photography is not for everyone and it’s not the easiest format to shoot. There has to be a lot of respect and trust from the photographer and Ashley has been doing this medium for a very long time so she has a great track record.
I looked through some of her model samples and she is a great user of natural light and all photos are very artful and tastefully done.
Ashley said it’s a way for a woman to empower herself for herself.
If any ladies are interested in knowing what Simply Lush is, just stop by her studio to check it out.
She will be taking a little break soon to deliver her first child around April 1 and will resume back sometime in July. Ashley said after that she would be back looking forward to meeting many people in Greater Pittston.
Good luck with your new location, Ashley.
And finally, I’m starting to get a lot of information regarding St. Patrick’s Day and parade in the City of Pittston.
With the warmer weather we’ve been having, it feels and smells like spring is around the corner. I’m not so sure as we will find out in the next few days as we return to seasonal temperatures.
We are just a few days of being halfway done with Feb. and that’s okay with me. Ground Hog or not, March can go in either direction.
I’m hoping for an early spring.
Quote of the Week
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge
Thought of the Week
“There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail, there is a tiny and brilliant light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.” – Leo Tolstoy
Bumper Sticker
“We don’t quit, we don’t cower, we don’t run. We endure and conquer.” – Kobe Bryant