After I went away to the military and college, my parents got a new house, but it had all the furniture I grew up with. Visiting them, during my first years of working at Indiana newspapers, was like going back to childhood in some ways. I could ease whatever workplace stress I was going through just by closing my eyes and reliving some of those earlier times. Apparently, even the pope sometimes feels the need for that kind of mental getaway.
Over the past few weeks, the German pontiff has been seen sneaking back to his old room outside the Vatican walls three times, La Stampa reported yesterday.
. . . It is not a question of just dashing in for a few minutes to grab a bag or a book," La Stampa said. "He spends at least a couple of hours there."
I'm guessing he doesn't have tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches in order to recreate the feeling of being home from school on a cold winter's day, but there's probably an "I wish I were a simple cardinal again" equivalent.
