Reading and Early Questioning

I was a child that was always curious and searching for answers. Even before I knew what the words, Science, Philosophy, and Truth were I was trying to figure out answers to these kind of questions.

A lot of this came from my reading. I learned how to read at a pretty early age. Once I did I began absorbing as much information as I could. I remember having a children’s dictionary that I would spend a lot of time reading. At the back of the book it had a number of stories and fairy tales. I really enjoyed reading about monsters, heroes, princesses, and curses. Having read the original stories as a young child it colored my perception when Disney would later produce animated films based upon these stories, and I could easily point out major changes.

In addition to the children’s dictionary we had, my family owned an entire encyclopedia set. I would open various volumes and read about all kinds of different topics. Yes, I read the encyclopedia for fun, what can I say, I was a weird kid.

During this part of my childhood I remember the first major question or mystery I tried to find the answer to. It was about the matter of why Brian’s birthday was celebrated before mine even though I was older. For the life of me I couldn’t figure it out, it made no sense. To be perfectly honest, over 20 years later and a much more expanded knowledge of the calendar system, this question has not been sufficiently resolved for me.

I also remember being in the car going to places with my family. Being raised in Southern California I was used to being in urban type settings. I've always been fascinated with geography and this was true even at a young age. When on the freeway at times I would ask my dad were we were and he stated that we were between such and such town and this other city. I would protest and say that I didn't care what cities we were between but what city we were currently in. I couldn't fathom being in a place that wasn't within a city's limits. My dad put up with my naivete and eventually I understood there was more than just city.

So what were big questions or mysteries that you tried to find answers to from your childhood?

First Memories

My first memories as a child were that of my grandfather, my mom’s father. We spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s home in Newbury Park, CA. He was bedridden and pale with sickness. That is how I remembered him. I have seen pictures of him in his youth full of life and vigor but I only knew him as the weakened man before the end. He passed away in 1986, the year Brian was born. With my cousin Breanne being only 1 year old, I am the only grandchild that ever had any memories of him.

Since he died when I was so young, a name or title was never truly attributed to him. In Italian, Nono means grandfather, so if things had played out differently and we had been given more time with him, we would have probably called him that. I traditionally refer to him as my mom’s father, or usually “your dad”, because 80% of the time when discussing him I am talking to my mom.

Even in my extreme youth, his death had a profound impact on my life. His death was the first death I experienced, the the only death I ever dealt with in my childhood. Spirituality, death, and the afterlife were all put into the context of his passing away. Later in my life I would try to find way to connect with him, and though I’m sure he did not see himself as much of a spiritual man, he greatly influenced my own spirituality.

Though my first confirmed memories were that of my grandfather, I have sworn I have memories of my great-grandmother (from my father’s side) though it seems impossible. I would have been around a year old when she passed away. It is possible that these memories may have exaggerated by photos or video I have seen of her but I would like to think I actually knew her.

So as can be seen, family has played a significant factor in my young life and my memories are very reflective of that. For my readers that care to comment, what were your first memories? Why do you think they had such impact on you?

In The Beginning

To begin my story I want to give a few background details about myself for those who do not already know. Some of these things I will delve deeper into in future posts.

I was born Kevin Daniel Pomeroy on August 15, 1983 to Jeffery Pomeroy and Linda Ciccone in Ventura County, California. I am the oldest of 5 children. Brian, my brother, is second oldest, followed by 3 sisters, Amy, Kimberly, and Marisa.

My dad is a mixture of European heritage, but primarily English and German. He was an only child and was raised in California. He was raised to excel academically, and was taught a strong work ethic by his parents who both had careers.

My mom is Italian, both of her parents were born in Italy and came to America for better opportunities and to raise a family. They had 3 children, Umberto (Bert), Bruno, and my mom the youngest. None of their children or grandchildren were taught Italian, because my grandfather felt that since they were in America that they should speak English. I understand his reasoning but many of us have regretted not being raised with our linguistic heritage.

I think that covers the basics of my background. I will continue spending more time filling in information as I go along.

Introduction

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about my life and the journey that life has taken me to get to this point. I have gone through a lot of ups, downs, and simply weird stuff. I was never good at keeping a journal but I have had many experiences that I have a strong recollection of that I want to write down. This project is mostly for me, going through my life experiences and putting a good many things on the record. I’m too poor to see a counsellor or psychiatrist, so this will be my own brand of writing therapy.

In starting this blog I decided to have a focus or emphasis. This focus will be on my spiritual journey. I could write on a good deal many other topics including some of my creative projects but parsing through my memories I realize that spirituality and religion have been some of the most central aspects and themes of my life, so I will devote the majority of this blog to this topic. I will try to overall tell my story in a general chronological order but may vary from the chronology as circumstance and preference permits. Outside of biographical information I may occasionally use this blog to write on some current events and share essays on various thoughts of mine.

My spiritual life has certainly been a complicated one. Before continuing onto future posts there are some things that need to be cleared up. This is not some kind of expose on religion and church. I do not have an agenda to bash religion or my church experience. I also want to be clear that this blog is not going to be filled with faith promoting rumors or fluffy material to convince anyone to follow my faith tradition. This is my faith journey, it will include spiritual highlights, moments of utter despair and pain, and just some bizarre stuff along the way. My intention is to be as honest as possible. Jesus once said, “The truth will make you free” (John 8:32). This is my truth, and no matter what others may say or think of me, I am going to set the record straight to the best of my recollection.

This blog will paint me differently than some are used to seeing me, in some of the posts that will put here, I will not always be shown in the best light. I am a real person with real struggles. Don’t think when I write of the negative things that I am seeking attention or sympathy, or am painting myself as a victim. Because one of the first things you should know about me, is no matter what life throws at me I am an extremely hopeful person and I’m just arrogant enough to believe that I will come up on top in the end.