NOW, I'M FAMOUS - FOR REAL AND FOR GOOD

I know Denis :-)!

It has been a long time since I have put some thoughts down in this space. It isn't for lack of thoughts.  It is more due to the lack of "fire in the belly" as the saying goes. There is also another half reason:  My hands are not as nimble as they used to be.  It takes me significantly more time to scribble 450 words as it used to. Besides the lack of digital agility there is also the reality of creeping digital numbness.  Be all of the above as they may, I find it imperative to send out the news that I have further reasons to brag about being famous.  I am now the elder brother of a published author.  (See the picture of the cover above.) Before we know it we will all be related to a person on the New York Times best seller list.  Now, that is more than what I can aspire to.  You don't make it on to the NYT B-S list when you end sentences with a preposition.
My first claim to fame was when I shared the same shower room with the mayor of Holyoke, Mass.  I played handball at the YMCA on a regular schedule.  I would have never known it except that my handball rival of the moment pointed him out to me.  I have to admit that I was touched with the hand of fame over that simple, raw encounter.
I had to wait for many more years before my claim to fame sparked back into prominence.  It was a rainy, raw Christmas Day in the Holy City of Rome.  I and two other colleagues, seminarians all, had decided to spend some time at the childrens' hospital.  As we were walking down a wide hallway from one section to another we encountered Pope John XXIII and two of his "buddies" coming toward us.  We smiled, shook hands and joked a bit. I was mostly silent since my Italian was only 3 months old at the time.  But hey, It was the first time that I had ever shaken the pope's hand. I remember that very clearly even though we were all modestly clothed.
Three years later, the future Saint John XXIII spent a day at the university where I was a student.  I met him again, face to face in the courtyard.  We shook hands, exchanged a few pleasantries (now I spoke Italian) and parted friends.  So, now I am doubly famous and I haven't washed my right hand in years.
I can't wait for next week's NYT!