I really like this story from the National Catholic Register:
Emma Watson Meets Her Pope
Posted by Tim Drake
Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:24 AM
Last Wednesday, 7-year-old Emma Watson of Craigmont, Idaho, finally got her wish to meet Pope Benedict XVI. Register readers will remember first meeting Emma through this story.
Nearly aborted, Emma was born with mosaic Turner syndrome and hypoplastic left heart syndrome and has undergone five open-heart surgeries for palliation of her congenital heart condition. She has wanted to meet the Pope since age 3.
Originally scheduled to meet the Pope in February, that trip had to be canceled because Emma had to be hospitalized for intestinal bleeding. The trip was made possible through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which granted 13,425 wishes to children last year.
This time around, she almost missed seeing the Pope for two different reasons. First, only three weeks before the trip, she was hospitalized with pancreatitis. Then, on the morning of the general audience, the Watson family couldn’t find the Make-A-Wish volunteers in the plaza.
Eventually, they found one another, and the Watsons were rushed in and seated for the general audience just minutes before it began. Emma and her mother, Patti, were given front-row seats.
“Mom was looking the other way when the Pope came out,” said Emma. “I was in awe, and I started crying.”
“She kept saying, ‘It’s the Pope. That’s the Pope,’” said Emma’s mother, Patti.
After the audience, Emma and her mother were brought to greet the Pope.
The Holy Father blessed Emma “in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” and then put his hands on Emma’s shoulders.
“He asked us where we were from,” said Patti. “I said the U.S., and then we were ushered aside.”
Normally quite talkative, Patti said that Emma was “speechless for the first time in her life.”
Emma said that when she looked into the Pope’s eyes she saw “happiness.”
Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:24 AM
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I’m so happy Emma got her wish! What a precious little girl! And what a good witness she is to the sanctity of life. I’m sure the Holy Father was full of happiness to meet her!
INEFFABLE!!!
How uplifting! Thank you for posting this wonderful story!
God’s precious child! What a gift she is to us! May God heal us through her love.
I thank God every day for Good Pope Benedict.
The Holy Spirit is at work. We can but watch and give thanks.
Now that’s a big deal. God bless you, Emma!
Yay! :-D
The photographer got a very good picture, too. :-)
Father, I know you’ve been having computer trouble…when I logged in to comment, I got a page with Cyrillic at the top and not this post…very strange, and I just wanted to make you aware.
As for this story…
Emma said that when she looked into the Pope’s eyes she saw “happiness.”
From the mouth of babes…God bless and watch over Emma and her family.
What a cool story-and a wonderful picture!
[a nicer story than the tripe about Chittister, that’s for sure!]
Oh! luckey Emma, not only did the Holy Father bless her, God did too.
I had a friend in college who had mosaic turners. Her parents were told when she was a baby that she would never finish school, drive a car have a job or live a normal life. She finished law school and has had a great job working in the law department of a large city. And she drives to get there. Turners, being a chromosomal abnormality can be detected by amniocentesis so I can imagine that what doctors say people with turners can’t do ends up promoting a lot of abortions nowadays.