The first day of the New Year reminded me a little more vividly than perhaps I would have cared for of how dramatically our lives can change and, possibly, end in an instant.

I was driving my older son to Logan Airport in Boston, where he had an 8 am flight that would take him back to Los Angeles. My daughter had returned to Los Angeles earlier in the week and my younger son had left the day before to attend a Phish concert in New York before eventually returning to Washington, D.C. It...

Overall, I’d say I feel pretty good about the life I’ve led – the person I’ve become, the children I’ve helped to raise, the things I’ve accomplished, the friendships that have endured and the new ones I’ve made.

Now, looking out at the year ahead, I’m considering a range of things I would like to accomplish: some short term, some near term, some stretch goals and some that should be fairly easily achievable. And I am committed to finally following up on two things I’ve delayed for far...

I find it fascinating that it takes a $1.3 billion purse to make it worthwhile for so many people to consider taking a chance on the Powerball sweepstakes. I guess a mere $50 million-$60 million is not going to do it for a lot of us.

Having said that, I must admit to being one who does not usually buy tickets in the lower ranges but gets caught up in the lottery frenzy when amounts approach $1 billion. That’s one happened this past week when I finally succumbed and bought five tickets on...

I’m uncertain about the first newspaper story I ever covered. One of the first was a pre-season football game between the New York Giants and the New York Jets. They played the game at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn. I don’t remember much about the game, but I do remember calling the story in from the press box so that it would get into the early morning Monday edition. That was pretty cool, I thought.

Years later my thoughts turned down a different path when I read that Doug Kotar, one...

Although there are many places on this planet I have not yet gone to, I consider myself quite fortunate to have been to quite a few and hope in the days and years ahead to visit many more. High on my wish list is a cross-country drive through the United States, possibly including parts of Alaska and Mexico.

This trip is still very much in the planning stages, but I do get excited thinking about it and have started jotting down things I would like to do and places I would like to go. I...