Family
Picking up the Pieces
“New Insights into the Hidden World of Autism”
The headline screamed from a Time magazine cover as I was walking through the Des Moines airport, awaiting my flight home from a two-day client visit. As my tastes in periodicals tend to run towards the entertainment, sports or video game mags, it’s not the sort of cover story that would normally grab my gaze. But… those words in that bold print collaborated to jog something loose in my sub-conscious – a nagging threat that I had, for the moment, kept successfully at bay.
I grabbed the magazine and paged through it on the long flight home. After completing the article, I ran through it again, my mind honing in on key notes – “Signs For Parents To Watch For” – that echoed the internal murmurs I had heard late at night... Continue reading »
Off They Go
Editor’s Note: This was originally published in September 2009.
On that inevitable day that I find myself on the business end of a waterboarding treatment, pressed to divulge the most intimate thoughts crated in my cabeza, when my grand inquisitors finally get around to the topic of Favorite Blog Posts, I know exactly which one I’ll name Numero Uno. Off He Goes – my heartfelt tribute to Colin’s first day of kindergarten. Of course, longtime readers of this site could also pick that post from a lineup as I’ve often referenced it and held it up as the shining beacon that illuminates this site when it all comes together just right.
Yeah – there’s a dollop of hubris for ya’, but dammit, my name’s all over this site so despite the... Continue reading »
Off He Goes
Editor’s Note: This was originally published in September 2008.
When I was five years old, my family resided on the Mean Streets of Everett, MA. At the time, I was enrolled in Kindergarten at the Hamilton Elementary School – a brick and mortar classroom that sat sentinel at the base of a large hill that stood between my home and the school’s foundation. There were multiple ways to get to school on foot but each involved journeying across several blocks of urban cityscape before arriving at that final destination – a foolhardy pursuit for even the toughest mofo. In those days, the swan song of the late 70’s, mankind hadn’t perfected the fine art of “Sue Everyone” so the school systems found themselves benefit of the litigious illiterate and etc... Continue reading »
The Impossible Dream
Editor’s Note – This was originally published in 2006.
I’ve been in a family mood lately.
Of course, I am grand patriarch to a modest brood (my son Colin, daughter Aria and two dogs of whom a paternity test has proven I am not the biological father but love all the same). Unless you’re some deadbeat who collects ‘72 Novas in his front yard and downs Schlitz by the gallon while shouting to your kinfolk to “Git R Done!!!” – it’s hard not to feel in the family way most every day. All it takes is a turn into your driveway – on some cold winter’s day after the grueling grind at the ‘nine to five’ - where a quick peek at your front window reveals the silhouette of a head (or in my case four heads) peering out, awaiting you... Continue reading »
Happy ‘?’ Birthday, Andi!!!
Regular readers of my site know that I’ve made it an annual tradition to pay tribute to my immediate family when they hit a new birthday milestone. This year we have Colin hitting seven and Aria turning the page to five – both in May. Also, our labs Abby and Chatham will turn 9 and 8, respectively. Their birthdays roll around this Spring. Then there’s yours truly, who caps it all off in early June by officially stamping myself as late 30ish when I turn 38 on the 6th.
But first it’s my beautiful bride, Andrea (or Andi to me, you and everyone else who knows and loves her). Today marks her “?” birthdate. Yes, she’s the only one whom I leave the age off these pages out of some warped sense of chivalry. That being said, she’s somewhere in league with me but I’m defin... Continue reading »
Bats in the Belfry
For the last five years, my family and I have lived off the beaten path – in a beautiful country style home set in the midst of the deep, dark woods. Situated in central Massachusetts, just South of Worcester and riding the crest of the Connecticut border, we’ve found one of those increasingly rare havens where the heavens beam a thousand points of light every time you toss open the shutters to sneak a peek at the great outdoors and the inky parchment above.
When we were seeking new shelter, we weren’t exactly in the market for solitude – just a nice rustic, yet newly constructed home on a decent slice of land that would allow our dogs and kids ample room to roam. We were coming from our modest Cape in the suburban environs outside the Brockton city center – and even though our neighborhood was ... Continue reading »
The Annual Humphries Family Christmas Letter – 2009
The Christmas Tree is up. The mistletoe hung. The vodka-laced Egg Nog imbibed twice hourly. Yup, tis the season although it really can’t be declared official until you get through reading the annul dissertation covering all things Humphries in the Year 2009. Well, now that your kindly mail man has seen fit to deliver this parchment into your mittens, it’s time to stoke the fire, settle down into your favorite easy chair, pour yourself another glass of that nefarious nog and enjoy this little spin through our own special fantasia. As with every letter we’ve sent before, everything you are about to read is for the most part, true, save a little embellishment. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot the few spots that I’ve pumped up for maximum enjoyment. Without further adieu, I present... Continue reading »
Haunted Humphries Happenings’ ‘09
Damn that Linus!!!
We sat sentinel in that suburban sprawl all night waiting for the Great Monster Garage to rise on Halloween Night this year and it was all for not. While the spooky specter helped haunt last year’s festivities – this year it remained dead and buried.
For those who know exactly what I’m talking about, I’ll simply say that while our Halloween festivities were very enjoyable this year, they definitely felt a little bit subdued after the highs of last year. It’s hard to top stumbling upon a makeshift gore-atorium while needling your friend’s neighbors for Nestle’s Crunch. And for those who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, hit this link to locate all the gory details about the once glorious Monster Garage.
That said – I don’t think the ... Continue reading »
Nine Years Later
Nine years ago today, on one of those storybook examples of a New England Indian Summer’s Day, the type that usually fade with the true descent into Fall, Andi and I awoke bright and early on a fine Saturday morning with the sole directive that we were going to the chapel and we were gonna’ get married.
Here we are as close to a decade as one can come and it really still feels like the beginning. Sure – a lot has changed in the nine years since that brilliant, sun-dappled morning, with our zip code migrating several counties westward and an assortment of creatures, great and small, arriving to seek cohabitation under our roof, but despite the many milestones we’ve already climbed together, it really feels like the great adventure stretches onward. And that can’t help but fill... Continue reading »
Aria at Four
“Daddy?”
“What, peach?”
“Are you thinking the same thing I’m thinking?”
“What’s that?”
“I love you!!!”
And that, my friends, is how Daddy’s Little Girls are made. My beautiful little girl, Aria Leigh, hit me with that probing line of inquiry a week ago and I wilted under the pressure. Forget waterboarding. You want a man to give up his secrets; you simply aim straight for the heart. And my little princess, with her blue eyes wide open in wonder, hoping her Daddy would return her serve with the same expertly crafted slice of sentimentality, knows exactly how to make me talk. In her sweetest little voice, with the most innocent of questions, she made my day.
Matters of the heart aside, Aria’s inquisitiveness also heralds another truth. My little... Continue reading »
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