The Scarlet Menagerie

 I had a boring childhood.

Sure, I’ve had my share of rough and tumble fun and adventure during my youth, but my boyhood was mainly defined by the four key institutions where my world seemed to revolve back then: (1) home, (2) school, (3) church and (4) hospital, in that order.

When all of my classmates and friends were busy collecting action figures, toy cars, novels or superhero cards, I was busy collecting…nothing.

(Would the anti-asthma drugs I took from birth to when I was about 19 years old qualify?)

But I later discovered I was just a late bloomer.  Since I focused most of my youthful energy on academics, I only found the time for R&R … when I started working.

My first crack at attempting to build a collection (my own collection that is, not something I shared with my brother) was when I was already 22 years old.  Yes, it took that long.

I was the type of person who, once I set my sights on something, is determined to finish the race or make it happen. (Apparently, this is not the case now… if we’re talking about my plans to go back to school or  to simply keep my Twitter account or my previous blog running. Anyway, I digress…)

But what could I possibly collect? 

Coins?

Nah. I haven’t traveled enough to have seen or used that many coins.

Books?

Believe it or not, I hate to read.  (And if ever I do collect books, the selection would be so limited that I would already call a set of 10 books "a good enough collection.")

The Cardinals' Replies (Uncataloged)

Hmmm... how about writing to famous people and asking for their autographs? 

Now that’s a start!

But which set of people?

Royalty? Presidents? Hollywood stars?

Then it struck me.

Why not the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals? Yes, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church!

Naturally, many people posed the big question: WHY THEM?

After having been asked the question perhaps a hundred times, I learned to distill my answer in three sentences: (1) They are Princes of the Church, equivalent to princes of reigning royal houses in civil protocol; (2) They are the only ones who can elect the Pope in a conclave during sede vacante; and most importantly, (3) Any one of them, as long as they are below 80 years old, CAN BECOME POPE.

But despite this explanation, I still get the occasional blank stare and the perfunctory “uh-huh” from those who ask why.

My Scrapbook

In hindsight, I think I was generally successful at my endeavor.  Although I wasn’t able to consistently write all the cardinals or keep up with the changes in the college, I think I was able to get some “prize catches” and was able to come up with a modest “collection” that I compiled in a scrapbook.

To date, I have over 80 holy cards, photographs, seals, signatures, a book and even a poster-size coat-of-arms sent by cardinals from all over the world (plus, the stamps that came with the letters to boot) ; not a bad batting average despite such a peculiar collection.

Of course, there were low moments in the collection process. Some of the cardinals, despite repeated my attempts at correspondence, sadly,  never responded. I also fell behind in cataloging some of the "relics."

Nevertheless, after twelve years and 80+ collective pieces, I can now claim success.  

And this, my scarlet menagerie, is what I intend to share to the digital continent through this humble blog.

However, the buck does not stop here.

This collection, as with any other collection, continues to evolve and is dynamic.

With the addition of 22 new cardinals to the College last February 2012....it’s open season once again.