WHILE VISITING HEAVEN

A week or so after 9/11, my friend, Sister Pauline (a Catholic nun) and I left the sorrows of the world behind and boarded a plane to Fatima, Portugal, a place I equate to heaven. (If you're interested in finding out more about Fatima, go to www.fatima.org.)

To continue, people kept telling Pauline and I to cancel our trip, and things came barrelling at us, which would make any sane person stop and reconsider. They cancelled our original flight. I had to have a last minute root canel, then while driving one day, I noticed a huge lump in one of my breasts. I was single at the time and not dating, and I'd been negligent with my health. This was before my back surgery, and when you're in intense pain, nothing else about your body seems important. Everything turned out to be fine, and we finally boarded our plane at LAX for New York. When we landed, the airport had been evacuated due to a bomb scare. When Pauline and I are together, though, we walk on air. If the airport had actually been bombed, God forbid, we would have still found a way to make it to Fatima.

After arriving safely, Pauline and I began visiting the shrine and praying. The church bells rang in the fresh Portugese air. No one was tense or disturbed. I think this is where God hid out until the smoke settled down. We were elbow to elbow with angels, most of them weary and in need of a little rest.

I wasn't aware they eat so much pork in Portugal. I don't care much for pork, and I tend to be a picky eater. When I was a kid, I wouldn't eat anything but grilled cheese sandwiches. Pauline and I both adore chocolate, so we sometimes ate candy for dinner. One day we were walking and trying to decide what we were going to eat for lunch. I said I would give anything for a simple bowl of soup. Suddenly, this man appeared from nowhere and directed us to what turned out to be the John Paul II Snack Bar. We'd been up and down the same street and never seen it. All I can say was the soup was heavenly.

This reminds me of Mother Theresa again. When she visited the Vatican, she would always look around at all the space and think about filling it with the poor. After she became one of the most powerful people in the world, John Paul gave her a spot at the Vatican, which was a very big thing. The Vatican is run by men, in case you don't know. There are sisters there, but they mainly take care of the men. There's no such thing as women's liberation at the Vatican.

Mother Theresa used this spot as a soup kitchen to feed the poor in Rome. They say John Paul himself used to occasionally come down and serve. If you haven't done anything for someone other than yourself and family lately, you're missing out on one of the greatest joys of life. This is a feeling you can't buy, and there aren't any drugs or chemicals you can take, either. It is priceless. Try reaching out to someone this weekend and tell me if I'm wrong. There's something you can do that's really simple. Smile at people. That's not too hard, is it? And no, you won't look like an idiot. A smile makes even the ugliest person look beautiful. www.nancytrosenberg.com