Author: Tony Farrell

All right, kids, you’ve waited all year for it, and now it’s finally here. Time for our annual trip to the beach, and pretty soon we’ll be on the road…

You were just a trembling pup all those years ago, only eight weeks old when we picked you from the litter. We brought you home in a box filled with…

Okay, here we go, let’s see if we can get you to catch. It’s just a tiny flame at first, gnawing away at the edge of some crumpled newspaper. now…

That’s okay, kids. Go ahead and laugh. I don’t mind. After all, it’s not every day you get to see your dad crawling across the wet lawn on his stomach,…

Yes, yes. We know, we know. Here we are again, right on schedule. Time again for our one-size-fits-all, here-we-are, look-at-us, oh-how-wonderful-we’ve-been-this-year, annual holiday letter. We submit it to you on…

So here I am again, standing at the end of the walk with the flashlight in my hand. Up at the front door, past the jack o’ lanterns on the…

I guess I’ll look back one day and laugh at the whole thing. But right now, sitting here in this spine-twisting camp chair in the middle of all the splashing,…

The jutting chin. The inscrutable eyes. The shock of unkempt hair. It’s all there in the alabaster bust of Ludwig von Beethoven sitting just outside the door to the violin…

The call comes just as I am trying to pry open her stuck bedroom window. It’s almost time for dance class, and she’s forgotten her jazz pants. They’re in the…

It seemed like a good idea at the time. And how hard could it be, anyway? A sandwich, some cookies, a nice, ripe piece of fruit. A whimsical mix of…

Sleeping bag? Check. Long underwear? Check. The waterproof boots from L.L. Bean I’ve had since college? Well, in need of new laces, but also check. Now if I could only…

She’s sniffing. And pacing. And pawing the corner where the carpet meets the wall. C’mon now, girl, what’s the matter? Uh-oh. I think I know. The dog always figures it…