Sheila Gramling

While attending university in Rome in the fall of 1989, Sheila met Pope John Paul the second in the Papal Summer Palace, Sastel Gandolfo. After submitting the winning idea for a papal gift of a basket of flowers with spiritual offerings tied to each stem, she was chosen to present it to him for her class. As the story goes, he told her, "You do not look old enough to be in college."

Prior to that, she recalls the only bumper sticker ever allowed to be put on the family car by her Polish father was in 1978: Happiness is having a Polish Pope! Her Polish language skills are limited to short phrases of well wishes and a curse word or two taught by her grandfather, who had the same sheepish grin as the saint.

Sheila met her husband at a wedding in July of 1995. He was the brother of her sister's groom. Allowing her sister to have her own new last name for a mere eleven months, they were married in May of 1996.

Sheila and Chris moved to Kansas City in 1998 and welcomed Edward into the world in December of 1999. Nineteen months later, Henry arrived. Sarah burst into the world just shy of two years later and two full weeks early while her dad was away on a work trip. Lilly was adopted from China in 2005, and Simon was adopted from Ethiopia as an older child in 2010. Their ages are 17-23. She recently welcomed her first daughter-in-law to the family.

Sheila's favorite books include: Mr. Blue by Miles Connelly, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. Favorite children's books: Ann of Green Gables and Winnie the Pooh. Favorite authors: Charles Dickins and Oscar Wilde. Favorite movies: Gladiator and Life is Beautiful. Favorite Saints: JPII, Pierre Giorgio Frassatti, Carlo Acutis, St. Joseph and Joan of Arc.