Hello Again: Vatican Diplomacy

I have been locked out of my Blogger account for several weeks now — I gather I'm far from being alone — but a computer literate nephew has got me back in.

But you find me not as I left you. It's Sober in October in memory of my darling niece, Paula, who died from cancer three years ago, on September 23, 2011.

Saturday, October 11: An apology.

I had intended to add a dedication to my niece Paula and then write a bit about the recent meeting of the Middle East war zone Nuncios in Rome but, distracted, I accidentally posted the thing after inserting the photograph below and closed the tab and then couldn't get back into the Blog — from which, as I said above, I have been blocked for some weeks. After several hours of intemperate language this evening, I am back. But since it is now past midnight and I am tired and sober, I'm off to bed. Sober? Me? Vice-President of the Scottish Catholic Drouth Society sober on a Friday night?

Well that is what I was going to say about Paula. A couple of weeks ago somebody mentioned this Go Sober in October thingy for Macmillan Nurses and it just so happened that it was just days after the third anniversary of Paula's death. It just occurred to me that the thought of her uncle Hughie trying to stay sober for a whole month would have had her in stitches. So, I thought, why not?

If any passers-by would like to sponsor me they can do so online at:

https://www.gosober.org.uk/profile/hughmcloughlin

PS: Did you know that Coca Cola dissolves the cement that is supposed to keep your wallie teeth in place? To my great embarrassment, I found that to be the case on Tuesday afternoon in the Gates Bar, Bellshill (they had run out of Ginger Beer; which had never happened before!).

Paula, right, with her mum, May, who died in 2010 at 10 am Sunday morning Mass in Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral, Motherwell, on the day before Paula was supposed to go into hospital for extensive surgery.