ONE LUNG, ONE HEART

I once had a semi-relative who had one lung.  It was in the days when tuberculosis was still a threat in the United States.  I say he was a semi-relative because he was one of those people whom you always called uncle or aunt simply because of the simple fact that they were adult friends of your parents.  It was being a "hapa" except that we didn't know that term back then.   Now we have a new Pope who has one lung and he is still going strong.  Just like our Irish "Uncle Dave."  Uncle Dave was a rarity.  He was married to a lady who was from a very staunch Franco-American family with Franco-American mores and values.  Yep, he beat ol' Jack to the punch.  

Dave was a great guy.  He married a sweet lady Irene and they had son Dennis.  Yeah, the Irish spelling won that round.

So now the world has been introduced to a real world phenomenon in Vatican City.  This new Papa really breaks the mold.  He is a real, honest to goodness "Hapa."  I'm not centuries old, believe me, but I would dare wager that there has never been a "Hapa" pope.  This is a real piece of creative Italian problem solving, compromising, Machiavellian Gerrymandering.  Are those enough metaphors for you in one sentence?  It is also quite a piece of hair-splitting expertise by those wily Jesuits.  How to get one of your guys in the position to which you owe vowed obedience?   From the area where "rice Christians" were invented!  So, all around we keep the Italians happy because they get one of their guys in the driver's seat.  They get some revenge by laughing at the rest of the world trying to pronounce his surname.  Of all the easy ones that we know, Conti, Pace, Montini, Scola, Capone, Cuomo, Arcaro or even Fratangelo, we get a "hapa" by name of Bergoglio.  I bet that even in Argentina he had some fun with that one.  The television networks are going to have to conduct Italian as a Second language courses to teach their personnel how to pronounce that.  Actually, it's a good thing that he chose Francis as his AKA.  It was always a little difficult for me to get accustomed to hearing people refer to Pope Benedict XVI as Pope Ratzinger.  Now the Italians can get their revenge by having a name in the office that only they can pronounce correctly.  I have to admit that I got a smile hearing him speak Italian with an Argentinian accent.  I am constantly told that I speak Spanish with an Italian accent.   What a world we live in!

So, the Italians get one of their own back on the throne, kinda, and the South Americans can go nuts thumbing their noses at the North American Gringos who are still standing in line wondering when it is going to happen to them.  There's not a thing that Ellis Island can do about that.  

If any of  you are harboring desires to go to Rio de Janeiro for the Youth day shindig, Good Luck!  Half the population of the planet will be there.  I can see airplane fares from North American going to 10,000 simoleons, round trip...on a gaudy Yellow and Green Brazilian airlines Boeing Z3330SP Bergoglio.

Let's pray that God will give him some time to get something done.