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Couple Recalls Romantic Meeting To Mark Kaufmann's Clock Centennial

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- "Meet me under the Kaufmann's clock."

Pittsburghers have been saying that for 100 years. On Friday morning, Macy's department store in Downtown Pitsburgh will celebrate the clock's centennial.

Among those on hand will be a couple for whom the clock provided a romantic rendezvous. Attorneys Bill and Debbie Lestitian met under the clock after he called her for a blind date.

"Back in 1991 I was a young lawyer in a firm in Pittsburgh, and I had cousins who said, 'You need to meet a friend of ours,'" Bill recalls.

"Bill said, 'Let's meet under the clock at 12:30,'" Debbie said. "That was an easy landmark for me."

Continuing the story, Bill says, "I received an assignment that morning, and I was pretty distracted by it, and if we had cell phones back then, I probably would have canceled the lunch."

"I was kind of underwhelmed by the first date, to be honest," Debbie laughs.

"Truth be told, when I called her for a second date, her mom basically said give this guy another chance," Bill says. "We dated for three years, and on Dec. 10, 1994, I called her - we were both working - and I said, 'Why don't we meet for lunch?' She said, 'Where do you want to meet?' I said, 'Let's meet under the clock.'"

"And he dropped down to one knee, and proposed right there on the sidewalk, in the slush and snow," said Debbie.

Now married, with two children, the couple shared their story with Macy's and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's one of 10 reminiscences to be honored Friday in the clock's centennial celebration.

For more information on the anniversary, log on to: Macys.com

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