I to am really sad that he passed away, and stood up to watch all the funeral on tv last thursday night. In 1987 when he came to Los Angeles I felt so humbled yet shocked to be chosen with two others from my school to be on stage with the Pope, and about 40 other high school students at the Universal Amphitheatre. It was even sadder that they replayed that event right before the funeral on KTLA (here in LA), pretty emotional because of the memory. Thats one of the highlights in my life. The 6,200 people sitting in front me made the place so electric it just ROCKED, like a concert. Then there was this man who played a guitar with his two feet (and sang a song) for the Pope since he didn't have any arms, and watching the Pope jump off the stage to greet him, which made me realize how healthy he was back then. I had seen this man play the guitar a couple of days before during rehearsals and was awed at his ability, it was a unique experience. The Pope loved everything, he had a most compassionate and happy look on his face, it was terrific. Unfortunately I didn't get to say something or even shake his hand since he seemed to concentrate to meet the people closest to him on the right side of the stage, I was on the left, but my friend got to shake his hand and say a few words to him, so that was way cool. Anyways, not that I wanted to make this long, just thought I'd share this memory since it was a once in a lifetime experience. He made the world a better place.
