I'll start by admitting that I had been having a hard time lately. Philip is doing great health wise but he has some habits that need to be broken. He is addicted to his bottle and while his new medication for the itching seems to have helped a lot, he still wakes about 4 times a night yelling "OW, MOMMY, NO, CAN'T, NO MOMMY". I am just at a loss. I don't know what to do for him anymore. So with all that waking for scratching and bottles (and changing sheets because he drinks so many bottles) I am not really myself lately. I'm short with the kids and Dan and exhausted and just plain not 100% at anything I do. I was questioning my faith a lot. Asking for help and guidance and patience.
God, Give me a sign please!
...And I got it BIG TIME on September 24th.
My brother in law Jimmy, was able to get us to the airport to watch the Pope land in New York and had hopes of getting he and Philip Blessed by the Pope. Jimmy is battling Hodgkins Lymphoma. It was an exciting day that started with us being screened by the secret service. Me, Dan, Danny, Philip, Jimmy and his wife Tara all walked onto the tarmac and began to wait for the Pope's arrival. We saw the White House Helicopters and some Osprey's and Watched the airplanes take off and land. About 45 minutes before the plane landed, Jimmy and Philip had to switch areas in order to be in place to be blessed. Philip wasn't cooperating to the fullest, so I had to tag along with him and Jimmy. We made our way over and were stopped to do interviews with CBS news radio. Thy asked why we were there and what we thought of the Pope. I was so nervous I had no idea what to say! So I talked mostly about Philip and his situation. After that, we moved into the Blessing "pen" (for lack of a better word). We were standing on the edge of the crowd and somehow got pushed back out of and behind the blessing area. I thought the chance of them being blessed was out the window but Jimmy somehow made conversation with two gentlemen in front of us and it turned out one man's wife is a principal in our town and in a school that Tara worked at! Small World. It turned out they knew someone in charge and he came over and said the best he could do was have us walk to the other side of the pen and squeeze to the front and Give Philip to these two women in red shirts and they would hold him. Jimmy would not be able to get into the area. So we made our way over and squeezed our way up and handed poor Philip over! He was so good for a while then he started getting agitated. The ladies wanted me to hop the fence and come up there with them. I said No Way! I don't want to get shot by secret service! LOL The people around the area were so friendly and helpful it was amazing. Thankfully after going back and forth a few minutes, Jimmy agreed to hop the fence and be with Philip. During all this commotion the plane landed and the Pope was making his way over towards Jimmy and Philip. At this point Philip had enough. He kept screaming and crying and yelling for me. But Jimmy kept him with him and Pope Francis approached them laughing. Maybe because Philip was screaming so much! LOL Jimmy told him about them both and someone translated into his ear and he blessed both Jimmy and Philip. He even kissed Philip's head. The tears just poured out. There was No stopping them. Everyone in our area was so excited and emotional for us. It was incredible. After the Pope passed us, Jimmy handed Philip over the crowd back to me. You could see him crowd surfing on the news. LOL We walked back to our family and told them what happened. They were in awe! They couldn't believe it. I STILL can't believe it. Thank you so much jimmy for making such an amazing moment happen for us.
It was an incredible experience and one that I will hold in my heart forever. And when things get a little rough and I feel myself starting to question my faith again I just have to look at these pictures and know that without a doubt there is something greater out there and is watching over me and my family.
