By Dom Cioffi I look forward to this time of year, which is why I save up several vacation days to coincide with my company holidays. I use this extra time to partake in various Christmas activities and get numerous household chores accomplished. I also take a lot of naps in front of the fire.…

By Dom Cioffi I was having a conversation with a coworker recently when she disclosed that she was in the process of getting a divorce. Knowing that she has two young children, I immediately acknowledged how sorry I was for situation. Surprisingly, she shook her head adamantly and said it was for the best. Apparently,…

By Dom Cioffi I’m on a business trip this week about five hours from my home. The company I work for is having their products installed at a remote location and I needed to be available for help in a particular area. I made the trip on Sunday night so I could wake up and…

By Dom Cioffi Eighteen years ago this week, I wrote a letter to a young woman I barely knew. In that letter, I summarized the first months of an infant boy — the same boy she gave up for adoption earlier that spring. Every year since, I have written that young woman at Christmastime. I…

By Dom Cioffi When I was in college, I took an art course that had me sketching and painting on a weekly basis. I loved the act of creating in this way and took joy in most of the assignments. On one occasion, the instructor asked the class to paint a picture of something we…

By Dom Cioffi Several months ago, I bought my father-in-law tickets to see Frankie Valli in concert. Valli, along with his backup group, The Four Seasons, peppered the charts with hits during the 1960s and '70s. From teenage chart-toppers like “Rag Doll” and “Sherry” to pop classics like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” and…

By Dom Cioffi I was a collector as a child. At first, I collected stuffed animals and picture books. Then I moved on to army men and Matchbox cars. Later, it was baseball cards and record albums. Along the way, I found a bevy of other items that I felt I needed to hoard into…

By Dom Cioffi I took my father-in-law to a professional football game last weekend. Football is one of the few things we bond over, so if I must spend an extended amount of time with him, I prefer it to revolve around football. He’s originally from New York (having grown up in Brooklyn), so he’s…

I got a call from a coworker a few months ago that started a chain of events that I have oddly become accustomed to. The coworker is someone I have known for several years but don’t normally conduct business with. He’s close to my age, holds a high corporate position, and is well-respected in our…

By Dom Cioffi I traveled to Europe last week for a work event — my first trip abroad since the craziness of the pandemic. The outbound flight was uneventful for me other than being fortuitously bumped into business class, which allowed extra legroom and a wider, more comfortable seat. Business class also comes with a…

By Dom Cioffi I was 10 years old in 1976, a little kid who loved sports and playing with his friends. I also loved going to the movies. Early on, my mother used to take me to see animated films and the occasional musical. Later, I became enamored with the “Herbie the Love Bug” series…

I know it was January because it was after the holidays and I was returning a gift to a local sporting goods store. That was nine months ago; that’s how long this mystery has lasted. I had received a golf shirt for Christmas but it was too small so I figured I’d bring it back…

By Dom Cioffi He lived on my floor in our dorm during my freshman year of college. I knew him from countless parties and passing him in the bathroom, but we never hung out together. He looked like a young Tom Petty, with blond hair and perpetually squinting eyes. By all accounts, he was a…

By Dom Cioffi I told my son at the beginning of the summer that we were going to do things differently this year. In past years, he had thrown away every opportunity to better himself, but this summer he would successfully balance fun with accomplishments. As far as I was concerned, he was not going…

By Dom Cioffi I hit the nostalgic trifecta this past weekend when my wife and I attended a concert featuring three retro acts from the late '70s and early '80s Months ago, I got an email promoting all the popular musical acts touring the country over the summer. I went through the list and picked…