A pope--puree of items

What's a Catholic big sister to do when she opens up the blog and sees little brother's (SHS-1982)most recent cartoon above? The morning has already included a note from my contact in the Vatican, who thankfully is not yet reporting on Pope John Paul's passing.

Cindy (SHS-1978) tells me she can't share any of her observations of his current health crisis because she's under contract with Catholic News Service. She did say, however, that it's been pretty crazy with phones ringing off the hook. A few months back, Cindy also offered some interesting insights on her life as a Vatican reporter. The column is available under Love Notes archives at (www.mariannelove.com).

I've heard from both Rome and Nice this morning. A former student named Donovan Libring (SHS-1994) works as a Spanish translator in France. He sent me photos yesterday of him and the hunk, Viggo Mortensen. Donovan got to work on the set of Hidalgo as a translator for the stunt crew.

As with everyone else I've run across who knows Viggo, Donovan speaks very highly of the actor. Says he's a breed apart from the typical Hollywood type----never would drink water unless the whole crew had it first, always showed concern for everyone other than himself.

Donovan also recalled the days when he shared the drivers' training car with my son Willie (SHS-1995). He says Willie was the first and only student among the three to run a stop sign on Second Avenue behind the Pastime Cafe. The rule was to get out, apologize to the sign and buy the rest of the student drivers and their teacher ice cream.

Willie disputes Donovan's claim. Says it was Adam Long (SHS-1995) who had to treat the others. Of course, Adam may dispute it too and blame it all on Donovan. Nonetheless, they all got their drivers' licenses and moved on to some interesting lives.

Back to Lessons with Love. I should have my part of the manuscript ready to go by this afternoon.

Post note: Donovan wrote later and said Willie's version was correct. As a journalist, I always appreciate accuracy in my accounts of such weighty stories. Thank you, Donovan, for voluntarily setting the record straight. Also, enjoy those tortillas!