Spring forward, fall down.

Sandra has brought in forsythia cuttings and placed them in water next to the stove. They are flowering, first yellow, then green.

The Vatican will be center of attention during this time of mourning. We'll see centuries-old traditions to guide and strengthen the Church. But, we'll see these traditions played out on massive TV screens in St. Peter's Square, the images broadcast by satellite to all the world. The Vatican press service sends SMS text messages to journalists, telling them when to expect an announcement from the Vatican press office. I remember watching television and seeing the puff of white smoke that signified the election of Paul VI. It could have been a live broadcast, but I suspect that it was on film.

John Paul II's contrition and strength, his own and on behalf of the Church, brought great healing between Catholics and Jews. "You are our elder brothers," he said when visited the Synagogue of Rome in 1986.

He spoke of peace. He spoke directly to the powerful, saying that peace was their obligation. That our leaders choose now to talk of his message of freedom, rather than of peace, is telling.

And he gave us the gift of a brave death. It's truly brave to share with us a failing body and to show the acceptance of death as a part of the whole of life. My mother and step-father were similarly generous, for which I will be forever grateful.

What, then, do we make of other matters, such as the ordination of women, putting doctrine ahead of life, and a slow and muted response to a contemporary evil? Every person, from the most lowly to the most exalted, brings a wealth of beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses. If we're to have a relationship, we'll have a relationship with the whole person. We'll live in the midst of contradictions in us and in the other. And that's what makes the days worthwhile.

In a parallel universe, where the old are young forever, it's Opening Day, the Red Sox against the Yankees.