Me too

`

I heard on the radio white smoke was seen.

I turned on the television, I expected a South American. When the name was announced I couldn't help but shout for joy, I don't think I had ever wept for joy before. I rang one or two friends, then rang the church bells, put a large papal flag out the presbytery window, sang the Te Deum. Then I went out and bought champagne, as much as I could carry.

I had arranged to say Mass, if a new Pope was elected at 7pm after the election, so for the thirty or so people who turned up I offered thge Holy Sacrifice, sang "God bless our Pope", and we drank champagne afterwards.

Afterwards I couldn't stop praying, "thank you, Lord", I still say that.

...well, not the saying Mass part, and not the drinking champagne part, but certainly the weeping and yelping for joy part.

I had been working on a story while keeping the site for the live webcam that was trained on the Sistine Chapel chimney on my computer. I was in the middle of some editorial discussion with JHW and he broke off and typed into Messenger, "WHITE SMOKE!!!"

I jumped up and grabbed the dinner bell and ran around the house yelling "white smoke! white smoke!" and everyone congregated up in the TV room where the Vaticanistas kept us waiting for another 20 minutes (50 hours) or so. When Cardinal Whatsisface said the name "Josephum" we spent five seconds running through all the Cardinals we could think of named Joseph and could only come up with one.

When the other name was announced...

well...

let's just say there was much recjoicing.

I grinned so hard for so long, the back of my head hurt.

I had actually just been reading that week the Peter Sewell book on him so I was assigned to write the personal biography. JHW had to do the theological thing, which was much less fun. I got to do all the "plays piano, likes cats, deserted from the German army" stuff.