I’ve been a priest for twelve years. I grew up in Blanchardville, Wisconsin, a town of 800, just shy of an hour southwest of Madison. I grew up in town but worked on a farm in high school, and it’s made every job I’ve had since seem easy by comparison. My folks have retired and live in Cross Plains. My younger brother Scott and his wife live in California. I went to UW-Madison for Materials Science Engineering, and worked briefly for the Kohler company in their brass foundry. While I grew up Lutheran – my Dad was a Lutheran pastor – I had something of a conversion of heart in college that led to a lot of questions, and eventually, after graduating, to the Catholic Church.