I was born and grew up in Philadelphia, PA, along with my eleven siblings, seven brothers and four sisters! My dad owns and operates a household moving company in the city even now, and he boasts that he had an enduring supply of home-grown brawn as all his sons worked in the company for at least two years each. Growing up in a large family has at least one great benefit: it teaches community outlook and participation. Three of my brothers serve in the Armed Forces, two of my sisters are registered nurses, one sister owns and operates a preschool in San Diego, two of my brothers are in religious life (a priest and a Carmelite monk), one brother is an electrician, and lastly one brother and one sister are in college. Family reunions are great!

I started taking Latin in high school, but it never really stuck. I was reintroduced to it while I was pursuing a vocation to the priesthood two years after high school. I had a wonderful teacher, Fr. Calvin Goodwin, who drilled the rudiments of Latin into me for four years at the same time as showing me the traits of a great teacher: humor, clarity, compassion, and love of students and subject. When I left the seminary I knew I wanted to teach Latin, so I took my undergraduate degree in Classics and Early Christian Literature at Ave Maria University in Naples, FL; I took a post-baccalaureate certificate in Classical Languages at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; most recently I completed a master's degree in Latin Pedagogy at the University of Arizona here in Tucson, AZ. 

I married my best friend, Angela, on September 1, 2012, and together, when we have the time, we spend as much time with our families as possible (Angela is also one of twelve!). Together we have family scattered from coast to coast, but our favorite places to visit are Philadelphia, northern Virginia, and Lincoln, NE.