Taylor Hall and her parents have felt a special connection with Pope Francis over the past six years, and the Shickshinny family was saddened to learn of his death Monday.
Taylor, now 8, accompanied her parents, Angee and Matthew, on a vacation to Italy in 2019 along with Matthew’s mother, Laurie, and his sister, Kelsey (Hall) Russick, Angee said in a phone interview.
“While staying in Rome, we decided to go to the weekly blessing of the people, which the pope had done on Wednesdays. We just were in the crowd, and as he was driving by, he actually passed us and tapped the driver on the shoulder, and they stopped. And that’s when the Swiss Guard came over and just basically took my daughter out of my mother-in-law’s hands, like, didn’t ask her anything, they just took her. So, I was like, oh my gosh!” Angee said.
Angee estimated Francis spent about 30 to 40 seconds with her daughter.
“He patted her on the head, he rubbed her head, he put the sign of the cross on her head, he kissed her head, and then he, you know, kind of did a blessing across his chest, and said some words. I don’t know what was said, because he was quite a distance from us,” Angee recalled.
Taylor’s reaction to the impromptu snatch-and-bless?
“Oh, she bawled!” Angee said with a laugh. “She was bawling. She was about 2½, so, at the time, it was a very traumatic experience for her. In the scheme of things, she obviously understands now what really had happened. But, when this strange man just took her away, she was crying. In a couple of pictures, you can actually see where her face is pretty emotional. But, as a 2-year-old, you don’t understand what’s happening.”
“It was just a very special experience for our family,” Angee added. “I remember afterwards, when they had given her back, a crowd kind of formed around her, and everybody wanted to touch her, almost like she was a connection (to Francis) to a lot of those people. I remember just everybody coming over and touching her and, you know, kind of putting their hands on her and crying.”
Taylor Hall, 8, seen here with her mother, Angee, brother, Carson, 4, and father, Matthew. Angee recalls how Pope Francis, who died on Monday, stopped his motorcade to bless Taylor while the family was vacationing in Rome six years ago. (SUBMITTED)
Angee has some thoughts on why Francis stopped to spend time with her daughter.
“We had a heck of a time conceiving our daughter. It took us six years to get pregnant with her, and we were only able to get pregnant through IVF processes, and she was kind of our own little miracle. And I just, I really feel like it was divine intervention at that point, like everything happens for a reason. And, you know, it just kind of solidified our feeling on how special she really was,” Angee said, apologizing as her voice cracked with emotion.
She felt a true loss when her mother called her Monday morning with news of Francis’ death.
“I got emotional, and I turned the news on, and it was there. And that’s when I kind of just had this, almost like a peaceful feeling. I feel like the time when he had passed, it was almost like a call to home — you know, Easter Monday. He was able to go out yesterday and do a small service, and he did bless some people at the time, and then, you know, just passed away this morning. So I, with all of his past health struggles, I actually felt very peaceful about it.”
She described herself as “a huge fan” of the late pontiff.
“From the moment he came into office, he was very forthcoming and just brought a lot of needed change within the church, I think, for today’s day and age, and had more acceptance. And I always loved the fact that he was very willing to be out with the people and did take a lot of time to stop and bless people wherever he was,” Angie said. “I always thought he was a very special pope to begin with, so I always appreciated that fact and how aggressive he was, especially growing up in the Catholic Church with a lot of the older generations. I feel like he was more open to change.”
As Taylor got older, Angee believes, she came to understand the significance of her meeting with Pope Francis.
“When we had returned from Italy, she really didn’t want to talk about it. And when we would ask her what happened, all she would say is, the pope kissed me on my forehead,” Angee said. “But now, as she’s aged, I think she really appreciates it. I think she really does understand more of the specialness of what had happened. And she even says, if somebody asks her what makes her special, always her first response is, ‘I was blessed by the Pope. I know I’m special.’”
Taylor Hall and her parents, Angee and Matthew, stand in front of a basilica in Rome during a family vacation to Rome six years ago when Taylor was 2 years old. Angee believes it was ‘divine intervention’ when Pope Francis, who died Monday, stopped his motorcade to bless Taylor when they went to St. Peter’s Square for a Wednesday papal blessing. (SUBMITTED)
On Monday morning, before Taylor left for school (she’s in Mrs. Stransky’s second grade class at Northwest Primary), her parents told her that the pope had died.
“She understood what had happened. We told her the process, and she was upset. But, I don’t know if it was like a loss for her, as much as it was for me, in particular. But, I did want her to be completely aware of what had happened,” Angee said. “Every year, her teachers question her on it, because they know everybody knows her as the girl that was blessed. So, a lot of people have talked to her about it. So, I definitely wanted to make sure that she was informed, and that if somebody did say something to her at school, she knew what was going on.”
As for keepsakes of Taylor’s special meeting with Francis, the family has one thing in addition to cherished photos.
“The outfit she was wearing at the time it happened,” Angee said. “We did save it and never washed it.”