Apologies - I was tagged in a MeMe

I owe posts to people. my only excuse is that saying nothing is better than saying something stupid: a fortiori saying nothing is better than saying lots of stupid things. This last, perhaps, impugns what follows:

Rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. I was born with an incarcerated hernia and had emergency abdominal surgery at the age of 6 weeks.

2. When the fever was really raging, my dad’s golden retriever, Little Big Ear, kept constant vigil by my crib. His vigilance is credited with alerting my parents to the gravity of the situation, and saving my life.

3. There was a nearly 400-point difference between my English and Math scores on the SAT: 420 Math.

4. I went to Fairfield College Preparatory School, the Jesuit secondary school of Connecticut.

5. After the heartbreaking end of my first great romance, I seriously considered joining the Jesuits.

6. I moved to Rome to study philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University and complete my discernment.

7. I spent a morning in prayer at the tomb of St. Ignatius, and, when I rose and returned to the University, and was on my way up the stair to the library, I saw a girl, who was descending; I said, “I’m going to marry that girl.” I did.

8. Her name is Ester, by the way, after the courageous and cunning Hebrew queen.

9. My son’s name is Joseph Matthew Altieri.

10. I speak Italian fluently, am conversant in French, while I read and understand Spanish; I read Latin as though it were English, but I cannot negotiate any passage of ancient Greek from any period without the assistance of a grammar and a dictionary.

11. My Ph.D. dissertation is called The Soul of a Nation: America as a Tradition of Inquiry and Nationhood.

12. I love New England.

13. I am an able cook – more inventive, though less disciplined than my wife, who is an excellent cook.

14. I have a soft spot in my heart for Brussels sprouts.

15. Part of my current job includes simultaneous translations of the Pope’s homilies.

16. I have been loved better than I know how to love.

17. I have lived almost half my life outside the U.S.

18. I love my country.

19. I was an altar boy.

20. I delivered an address to John Paul II.

21. I can recite most of Bolt’s A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS by heart (this is no great accomplishment – it is a short play).

22. I was a hockey player when I was younger – a goaltender.

23. I am a practicing Catholic.

24. I enjoy walking alone for miles and miles, preferably in the very early morning.

25. The person who tagged me in this was my best friend in my boyhood, and I love him dearly.