The pope, the priest and the man who would be godfather

Magnet #511 - Pope Benedictus XVI

Yep. Just when you thought I couldn't possibly have a magnet for everything, in pops Pope Benedictus XVI, who apparently injured himself today. I hope he's ok!

My soon-to-be brother-in-law bought this for me - you know, the only man (besides my dad) who has ever managed to get all three of us girls into a church at the same time on a non-holiday. The same man who, at his insistence, has convinced Save the World sister to get married. In the Church.

I was going to save this magnet to tell you guys the funny story about how Save the World sister had to make a detour to the Philippines "on her way home" from Nepal to get confirmed. And, then how, after speaking with the archbishop (coincidentally with our same last name) for a couple of hours, she was about to get confirmed, and found out she needed to present her baptismal certificate, which then sparked a panic call to my dad in NC, who was away from home and then had to drive the 4 hours home and back, to get the church to pull her certificate.

Whew. The things we do for love, I suppose.

Don't get me wrong, we were raised Catholic as Catholic can be - my parents were married by their best friend, Uncle Oscar, a priest whom we took very much into our family and our family vacations. But, the three of us have dealt with religion in our own ways, me personally drifting in and out, but knowing He's always there for me. I've never particularly been that attached to the church at home, so my closest connection to the Church was always Uncle Oscar.

But, I picked this magnet for today for a couple of other reasons. Mainly when I was riding home on the bus, my Blackberry buzzed with the sad and breaking news from CNN about Walter Cronkite passing away at 92 (92! Wow.). And for a quick second, I thought, hmmm, wonder who the other two will be.

But then when I got home, sadly I got one answer, when I found out my godfather, Uncle Oscar's brother, passed away in the Philippines a couple of days ago. We haven't lived in the same town for more than 30 years, but he and my godmother have always been a presence in my life.

They were the sweetest couple ever, never found one without the other for very long, always off having adventures around the world, and often in search of miracles. The last time I saw them, we visited them in the Philippines. A fantastic hacienda, filled to the brim with every memento from their journeys through life.

And, that's how I'll remember Tatay Toting, with the love of his life, both playing host to the three American girls running around, exploring their treasures.