First Step Consultation – Brian Farr M.S. in Ed., C.A.S.A.C.

Is part of your holiday tradition watching the same movies and holiday shows each year?  I prefer to watch what I consider “The Classics” while wrapping gifts in front of the fireplace. And yes, gifts must be placed in boxes and wrapped – not bagged.  I worked as a bagger at the local Grand Union […]

I’ve been thinking about the musical Hamilton alot lately.  A refrain from the song “The Schuyler Sisters” keeps running through my head.  Throughout the show, Peggy, Angelica, and Eliza (the sisters) repeat the chorus “look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now.”  The irony in this statement is that the […]

The line suddenly went tight and my body instinctively blocked out everything else but the feel of the monofilament held between my fingers on the rod.  Up until that time in my life, there was nothing else that could drown out the background noise and bring my anxious, scattered thoughts into more focus than the […]

While my children were home for their college break, we were rummaging around the garage and came upon a pile of plastic and inflatable sleds that they’d had for well over a decade.  As we discussed the possibility of donating the collection to the next generation of young people at “Big Hill,” our local spot […]

If you’ve never spent this time of year as a patient or a visitor in a hospital, count your blessings.  I’ve spent two of my 52 December Holiday Seasons holding vigil in stuffy, sanitized rooms for family members that were balancing delicately on the precipice of this world and the next during this time of […]

The best part of that morning was the bagels.  They were made in Long Island, which in my opinion are the only authentic bagels in the world.  I wasn’t labeled a “fussy eater” back then, like all those kids that in modern times might be identified as lactose intolerant or having severe allergies to certain […]

I blame the following series of events on Steven Spielberg and his gross but adorable alien E.T.  It was October of 1982, I was 12 years old, and I absolutely loved Halloween.  Mostly just the free candy part, but dressing up and going door-to-door was also exciting.  Jack-O-Lanterns and fallen leaves on the ground with […]

I’ve had a fair amount of jobs in my lifetime which were completely unrelated to what I now do for a professional living.  Here is a quick glimpse, starting with the first work I can remember doing in the 4th or 5th grade: -lawn boy (I mowed several in our neighborhood, using the family’s push […]

The older brother was drunk.  All three of us were, so this wasn’t particularly surprising.  What made the incident exceptional was just how drunk the older brother now appeared to be.  He had bounded off into the darkness, jumping precariously from boulder to boulder and screaming “Get down! Get down!  They’re coming for us, man!” […]

As a public service announcement, I’m recommending that anyone planning to visit Lake George take a stroll up the Prospect Mountain Hiking Trail.  Bring your kids and every relative, friend, or neighbor you can find – regardless of age, shape, or physical ability.  Before getting underway on the trail, stop by Canada Street and invite […]