Happy 90th, Dorothy, and welcome to the pope

April 20-it's Dorothy's birthday. She's a very special person in my life and I've known her for 50 years. I met her when I was starting to date her oldest son, Norbert Jr. Dorothy and her husband, Norbert Sr., had five sons and liked to tell stories of their rambunctious little boys when they lived out on a farm in Indiana.

Every time we visit Dorothy now where she lives in Southern California she laughs out loud while reminiscing about the trouble the boys got into. I'll bet I've heard the story 50 times about the time when little Norbert, at age 11, rolled the tractor over in a ditch. Or the time the bull got loose and chased Dorothy into the outhouse where she waited an hour until she could run back into the house.

And then there's the Saturday night bath. Dorothy heated the bath water over the wood-burning stove and dumped it into a large tub in the kitchen. Then the boys took turns-oldest first-taking their weekly Saturday night bath.

There were a lot of hardships raising a bunch of rowdy boys on a farm for a city girl like Dorothy. Before she got married she was a department store model in Louisville, Kentucky. What a change for her to move out to a 100-year-old farmhouse in Indiana and raise a big family of little boys.

Happy 90th birthday today. We love you, Mom!

Welcome to the pope

Sept. 18, 1987 was a very special day for my husband and I and about 80,000 other Catholics who got to spend a few hours in the presence of Pope John Paul II. This was a pope who visited more than 120 nations - much more than any of his predecessors. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in Candlestick Park that day and you could feel the uplifting spiritual vibrations when 80,000 people joined together singing "Praise Him" and the "Our Father."

You could feel it also as the pope reached out and touched so many extended hands, and laid his hands on the heads of many handicapped people who had gathered there in the ballpark stadium to see him.

He talked about our opportunities to minister to and serve those less fortunate than us. His voice and demeanor projected intense peace and caring. He seemed to radiate all-encompassing love. I feel privileged and honored to have walked in his shadow. Pope John Paul II, the shepherd of the Catholic church, died on April 2, 2005, and he will not be forgotten.

His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, has been visiting the United States this week and now he is the shepherd of the flock. The pope's visit here has been an opportunity to teach the country's 70 million Catholics. He is a very learned man and has written more than 50 books. He teaches on matters of faith and morals and looks after the pastoral needs of Rome. As the Bishop of Rome, he exercises his responsibility to teach, sanctify and govern. The college of bishops does not act alone but as united with the pope.

We sure wish we could have seen Pope Benedict XVI while he's been here in the U.S.

-- Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.