GROSSBECK, Ohio — When we knocked on Connie Kirby's door, she answered wearing a pink shirt faded by time. It bore the face of Pope Francis, and the words "U.S. Tour 2015" were written below.
She put the shirt on Monday morning as her private way of commemorating the death of the 88-year-old pontiff.
Kirby didn't know we were coming. We decided to check in with her because we spoke with her as part of WCPO's coverage of hundreds of Cincinnatians traveling to Philadelphia to see the leader of the Catholic Church in person as he toured the country.
"We were excited, and I thought this was probably as close as I'll get," Kirby said.
WATCH: A decade after seeing Pope Francis, Connie Kirby reflects on his death
We talked in Kirby's living room, the walls covered with angels and crosses, statues of saints and Jesus lining the tables and window sills and her front window painted to resemble stained glass.
Kirby regularly attends St. Ann Church in Grossbeck and said it was a no-brainer to load onto a charter bus and head to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis nearly a decade ago.
"When it was the time for him to come by, people just ..." Kirby pushed her hands together, showing how the crowd surged toward the barricades. "It was really cool because he celebrated mass right after he came through."
Kirby said the Pope's death wasn't a surprise to her. She said death was part of the cycle.
"We're not here forever, and God knows. He wanted him," she said.
Kirby said she didn't agree with every decision the pope made during his 12-year tenure leading the Catholic Church, but she believed God chose him.
She said that was enough for her to have faith in whatever may come, but she had one ask of the church as it enters a new era under new leadership.
"That it stays holy, which it will, because the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That's what Jesus said, and I believe it," said Kirby.
RELATED: Tri-State community leaders pay tribute to Pope Francis after his death
