Who Is Paul Jose?
Well, this is about me. This is always hard to write, so here it goes. I am the 9th child of a family with 15 children. The youngest of two sets of twins born 16 months apart in SE Idaho. I have a twin sister who is ten minutes older, and I was a gentleman even at birth and let her go before me. I have led a life that is pretty obscure, having been chosen to be the priest of a Catholic family.
Growing up, I was told that this was my fate, this is what I would be when the time came. I lived my early school days knowing that this is what was expected of me, and as I recall I did not dream of anything other than being a priest. This is probably very foreign to most people. As I finished high school and went to college at a seminary in Oregon, it was not till the middle of my junior year that I realized that the priesthood was not my dream but the dream of my family. Boy was my dad crushed when I returned home for Christmas and told him I was not returning.
My life since has been a time of wandering through life as I did not know what I would like to be or do. I worked many jobs over the years, met, married, and have three wonder full children that are now in their late 40s. divorced after 17 years, 4 years of being single, and then met someone that I thought I could love and move through the rest of my life with. We adopted two little girls from the foster care system and spent the next 14 years raising these two wonderful kids. Really it was pretty hard for quite a while as the youngest and I were like oil and water. Now they both have found their life partners and have given birth to two wonderful days. The old of these two now live with us with the four-year-old grandson and both parents. So why am I here? To find me and to help me determine what it is that I am supposed to be doing in this life, what it is that I was born to do. I am enjoying the lessons and the hard looks inside myself. The future is going to be fabulous.
Hello Paul, I’ve had some similar experiences as you, mine being taking on young grandkids to raise, and seeing the MKE Experience as the right step to look forward.
Thanks, Paul, for sharing your story and your life of generosity and that of seeking your purpose.
Great job Paul, it is wonderful to get to know you a bit more. Thanks for sharing!
I believe Frior Tuck had a similar dilemma, Paul Jose, and found Robin Hood and the quarter staff to blend nicely with the priesthood. LOL Seriously, though, if it’s you looking to find you, I cannot think of a better place to do that than #MKE. It’s kept bringing me back, year-after-year, for going on 8 years now. Tremendous “About me” blog! 🙂
Hi Paul! Beautiful Bio. Thanks for sharing your past with us and yes, you are here not as a happenstance, you are here because you belong here. Keep up the great work.