Mom's parents were both born in Finland. They moved to Minnesota and had Mom. Mom became a nurse and, after the war, moved out to sunny southern California, where she met Dad. Father Paul was three weeks old when his parents bought a home in the San Fernando Valley.
Childhood memories are sweet.
After two years at Santa Clara University, Father Paul transferred to the University of California at Santa Barbara. After four quarters at UCSB, academia lost its luster, and wanderlust took its place. Figuring that school would be there if he ever wanted to go back, he hit the road and traveled extensively around the United States. Traversing his twenties, a reexamination of his Faith led Father Paul back to a fuller participation in church life and subsequent contact with the seminary. He entered the Discalced Carmelite Seminary in San Jose in 1986.