It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so we will indeed be talking about love in today’s Feelgood Friday edition of the newsletter. First, I wanted to recognize the anniversary of some medical history made right here in Pennsylvania.

On Feb. 14, 1984, Dr. Thomas Starzl performed the world’s first heart-liver transplant at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. 

Starzl performed the heart-liver transplant on a 6-year-old girl from Texas named Stormie Jones, who suffered from a rare condition in which the body’s LDL cholesterol was elevated to near-lethal levels. 

For the procedure, Starzl used the heart and liver of a 4-year-old girl who had died in a car accident. Jones lived for seven years after the transplant, until her body unexpectedly rejected the heart.

More than 200 such operations have been performed since Starzl’s landmark surgery in 1984. 

Last call for this week’s QOTW: Should you be allowed to save your parking spot after a snowstorm?

Here’s where you stand on post-blizzard ‘savesies’:

“Until the city plows out the parking on my street, I feel it’s ok to save my spot.”

— Bonnie, Bethlehem

“I would say yes and no. Yes, because it is hard work to shovel out your car after a snowstorm, and I feel you have earned the right to that spot. No, because maybe there is limited parking depending on where you live. Maybe the solution would be to put a note on the windshield stating where you are so preferably you can move your car if the shoveler needs that spot to park their car.”

— Cathy, Westbrook Park

“Absolutely. Rule of the streets. Yinz don’t even try to move my garbage cans, which are weighted down with sandbags.”

— Steve T., Pittsburgh

“If I’m circling and circling a block looking for parking, and come upon a spot with a lawn chair in it, sorry, I’m moving it. Let’s not forget, people, it is illegal in Philly to save parking spaces any time of year.” (Ed. note: that’s true)

— Kim Bryson, Northeast Philadelphia

“If I shovel it, I’m saving it. And that’s that.”

— Burton Q., Erie

Gwen Shrift and Terry Nau at the Continental Tavern in Yardley on Feb. 11, 2025. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)

Valentine’s Day is a good time to remember that love has no deadline—even for those who spend decades working in the deadline-driven world of the news industry. You find it when you find it.

Gwen and Terry Nau are a couple of 70-something first-time newlyweds celebrating their second Valentine’s Day as husband and wife. Gwen spent nearly 40 years telling other people’s stories, more than 20 of them at the Bucks County Courier Times. (Full disclosure: Gwen and I were colleagues at the Courier Times for about 10 of those years.)

One of those stories was about a guy named Terry Nau, another longtime journalist married to his work. After retiring from the newspaper game in 2012, he began a second act as an author, which is how he first made contact with Gwen in 2015, trying to drum up publicity for his second book.

Nau cold-called a reporter there with the same last name as a high school friend, which is how his name and number made it to Shrift’s desk. And after connecting professionally, the couple connected romantically.

· For those of you living in Rutter’s country, the York-based convenience store chain is offering special new grilled cheese sandwiches for a limited time. Get the details here.

· More convenience store talk: Sheetz has officially entered Wawa territory, with the opening of a store in Montgomery County this week. Learn more here.

· ICYMI: a York restaurant was named one of the 39 best eateries in the country in a new USA Today ranking. Find out about it here.

With the upcoming holiday and some vacation time I’ll be taking, we’ll be on an abbreviated schedule. After Presidents Day, expect us in your inbox Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through Feb. 27.

We’ll resume our normal publishing schedule on Monday, March 2.

(Desiree Tapia/COURIER Newsroom)

Looking for some purely Pa. ways to say ‘Happy Valentine’s Day?’

We’re here to help.

Do you want to support The Keystone’s mission while showcasing your products or services to an engaged audience of 230,000+ subscribers?

Email advertise@couriernewsroom.com for more information.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Patrick Berkery with stories from USA Today Network via Reuters Connect. It was edited by Paula Solis.

The Keystone is free for everyone. Your support makes our work possible.