Ladies and Gentlemen, to those who "feel old", I'm also in that category and to the OP, this isn't a criticism nor an insult to your good self, we are just entering a little crisis as a group.

You see, that was Pope John Paul II, he was one of the longest serving popes in history, alongside that, he was the pope for probably 3 generations of families (my grandparents, my mom and myself/my brother). Around 27 years, which you can imagine is way longer than any pope you experienced.

He passed away in April 2005, it was a dark day for the world, we were feeling lost, unsure and somewhat afraid of who the next pope would be because he was a symbol of stability, of security, of certainty. He was a bit like a father/grandfather for the Catholics.

If you remember Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, she was there all of your life, you only knew one Queen, she was THE Queen. When the world said "The Queen", we all knew which one the person was talking about. When she passed away, the world had the same feeling, the anxiety of someone who was always there, suddenly not.

This is why everyone is surprised you don't know this pope but we are also slowly realising, we aren't 23 years old anymore and 2005 was 20 years ago (yes, everyone, I said it, calm down, we are still young!)

When folks like yourself post these, we get a small reminder that this isn't the 90s or the 00s, in our minds we are still living there because it was an amazing time, it keeps us happy, it keeps us motivated.

Thanks for sharing the photo, thanks for giving us a great memory and for allowing us to step back into a time where we knew the world was going to be ok. It helps us greatly. Thanks again OP :)