We were the only ones in the waiting room (not even full staff were in the office) and the TV was set to a news channel. We were really not paying attention as we were trying to entertain Brendan and keep Edward working on school (other boys were left at home with strict orders to do school work). However, the news flash: "The Pope will resign at the end of the month" was unbelievable! I stopped and stared at the TV for several minutes in shock....how could this be? After listening to the announcement and the following statement:
"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he told the cardinals. "I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering.
"However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary — strengths which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."
Then our waiting room TV switched to a kid friendly video and there was no way to find out any more information.
I thought about what I should do next...I know that sounds silly but my first thought was: "What are we going to do?" And, I said a little prayer for the pope (not knowing why he would be doing this...was he sicker than we were being told?) and called my mom. She had not turned on the news for the morning so was just as shocked. We discussed what would happen next...realized there was never a circumstance like this historically and that we really had no idea what would happen next. So, we prayed.
Michael had been with Brendan when all of this happened. He and Brendan had already made their way to the back of the building for the first stage of this procedure. They gave Brendan some "happy juice." This is just the preliminary anesthesia medicine to make him sleepy. He fought it so hard, that he ended up with hiccups.
After letting it work for an hour, they took him back and prepped him with a dose of Disney's "Cars" and nitrous-oxide. Zaira and Edward were our tag-alongs for this session at the dentist. Edward begrudgingly continued his school work. Zaira kept herself busy with the toys in the office waiting room.
The surgery (basically root canal and crowns) went well, but he came off the gas like he was waking up from a nightmare. Michael was holding a sleeping Zaira, so I had to get him and calm him down. It took another thirty minutes just to get him calm enough to get into the car to go home. As soon as we got home, he curled up on our bed and slept almost all day.
He is a good little trooper. We all hated to see him so upset. When he woke up he was HUNGRY! We were told to not let him have a lot of food, so I promised him a milkshake. He finished that in no time and wanted real food.
I do have to say he has been eating a lot of food lately...he must be having a growth spurt. He ate several helpings of sausage and noodles at dinner. We will see if it was just making up for the lack of food and making up for lost meals or the other as the days go on.
We continue to pray for the Church and the pope. It is so hard to believe even now....I pray for wisdom for all involved. We do have a lot to think about for the future of the Church. I am so glad the Holy Spirit guides us on this journey.
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