On several occasions when I was a teenager, my parents gave me the option of either going on a summer trip to a foreign country or attending a weeklong basketball camp. I always chose the basketball camp. Looking back, I may have been shortsighted with those decisions since my parents took fantastic trips to…

  By Dom Cioffi Quite often (especially in sports), situations arise where the odds are heavily stacked against a particular outcome. These ‘long-shot’ scenarios and wonderful to hype up in the hope that something unexpected will happen, but generally the majority of them fizzle out against the weight of the imbalance.  However, some long-shots do…

    When I was a kid, my mother stored all our holiday decorations in an attic room just off her bedroom. It was a small, cramped spot that was difficult to move around in due to the slanted ceiling, but perfect for storing items that weren’t accessed regularly.  I never liked this room. There…

My nephew came over this past weekend to visit. He’s a great kid with a solid head on his shoulders who’s trying to figure out his next steps in life. With football playing on my TV in the background, the two of us had an engaging hour-long talk that touched on a variety of subjects.   …

I worked for a global company for many years where I met a lot of interesting and diverse people. It was a melting pot of cultures, beliefs, and attitudes that, more often than not, made the work exciting and engaging.  During the interview process for this company, I met with several people, including HR reps,…

  We’re all born with gifts. Some folks are natural athletes, while others are adept at music. I’ve met people who could rattle off a stream of mathematical equations, and I’ve met others who could lift up the back end of a Chevy. No matter who you are or what your place is in life,…

   In the late 1970s, when I was in junior high school and first getting into music, I preferred New Wave bands like The Cars, Devo, Squeeze, and The Vapors. I found their songs to be upbeat and fun, which correlated well with my love of skateboarding and hanging out with friends. Plus, New Wave…

  I take the same route to my office every day. I’ve done this for a long time and only once have I been forced to detour. On that occasion, an 18-wheeler had been trying to avoid an accident and, in turn, caused a massive pile-up that blocked the entire highway.  I came upon the…

  This past Sunday, my wife and I decided to do some errands together. So, after breakfast we each knocked out a few household chores before finally jumping in my truck to head out.  We were about a mile down the road when I realized that I had forgotten my cellphone. My first instinct was…

  I took my family on a vacation to the North Carolina shore this past week. We rented a house on a quiet street a short distance from the beach. The house conveniently came with a golf cart, which made the back-and-forth trips to the ocean bearable. The temperatures were astounding. I don’t think I’ve…

  I grew up in a family with two older brothers; one was 8 years older and the other was 13 years older. Given the age gap, we did not play together much. So, by default, I was left to fend for myself, and while there were plenty of neighbor kids around, when I was…

  I watched an interview recently that featured a 70-year old man sitting in a wheelchair. He was mild-mannered and well kept and when prompted, spoke openly about his life and experiences. He was born in the United States, but because his father was involved in the military, he found himself growing up in Okinawa,…

  The internet is quite a place, even though it isn’t really a place at all. Over the years, I’ve watched it morph from a little known tech speciality to a worldwide phenomenon. And while I originally viewed it as the answer to all life’s problems, I now question whether we’d be better off without…

  I’ve had a couple close calls in my life. One summer during my mid-teens, I was at a lake with friends when we decided to hike up a trail that promised a grand view of the region. When we got to the top, we sat on a rock outcropping to enjoy the vistas. Being…

When I was in 7th grade, a couple girls in my class decided that I was going be the focus of their attention. The two girls wrote me a note explaining how cute I was and that they both liked me. I was admittedly, taken aback. It was impressive to have one girl like you…